The University is still considering demolishing Lee and Sullivan Residence Halls at a cost of approximately $1 million per building, but plans are not final and the University has not yet conducted any surveys on to assess the buildings.
The demolition of Lee and Sullivan Halls is part of the University’s 10-year plan, Susan Grant, director of University Housing, said.
However, before construction on west campus can be considered, plans for dorms on Centennial Campus need to be finalized, Grant said.
Grant said she was unable to give an estimate of the cost to rebuild dorms after Lee and Sullivan are demolished.
There is nothing structurally wrong with Lee and Sullivan Halls, but Grant said the buildings are “aging out.”
Grant named inaccessibility of the dorms to disabled people and ongoing problems with showers as reasons for potential demolition of Lee and Sullivan Halls.
“Based on the stairwell structure, a person of different abilities can only live on the ground floor and cannot visit any of their friends on the upper floors because the elevators stop between floors,” Grant said. “The bathrooms in their current structure are not [American Disabilities Act] acceptable, so that is another issue.”
Simply replacing the stairwells is a possibility, Grant said, but a study has not been conducted to determine if that is a better option than total demolition.
The “more regular need for replacement in the shower areas,” Grant said, is something else to consider.
The pipes in Lee and Sullivan Halls are also “aging out,” she said.
“Over some period of time, total replacement [of the water system] is needed,” Grant said.
However, Grant also said she did not know whether or not the water systems in Lee and Sullivan needed replacing.
“We have not done a full study of this problem,” she said. “It is one educated approach that our plumbing staff thinks might be something that would have to be done.”
Alexandra Blalock, a senior in technology education and a Lee Hall resident, said there are several problems with Lee Hall.
“It’s got old fashioned water heating and plumbing systems,” she said. “They look old like they might fall. They are outdated and it’s time for a change.”
Grant said the replacements for Lee and Sullivan Halls will likely be built, or at least partially completed, before Lee and Sullivan are taken down. Additional housing on Centennial Campus may help, she said.
“By gaining space on Centennial Campus, more space becomes available on main campus. And we can begin to look at replacing Lee and Sullivan,” Grant said. “We may not build the same number of beds back, but it’s our plan not to take [Lee and Sullivan] down until most of the residents can be accommodated in a new facility.”
Grant said dorms to replace Lee and Sullivan would be built on west campus, likely in the open area behind Lee Hall.
Blalock, however, said she did not think the problems with Lee and Sullivan could be fixed simply by renovating the buildings.
“I feel impending doom and problems for [Lee and Sullivan],” Blalock said. “They don’t really feel like a community. It’s just kind of like ‘Bam, there they are.'”
Amanda Isenhour, a freshman in microbiology and a Lee Hall resident, disagreed.
Isenhour said there are plumbing problems in Lee that can be taken care of without
completely demolishing the the building.
“Some of the drains and sinks get clogged up for some reason, so they could look into that,” she said. “Other than the plumbing, there is no reason to tear it down.”
