By Scott Harvey
Commerce – Crews at Texas A&M University-Commerce are close to breaking ground on a new, 250 plus room residence hall.
The demolition of five dormitories at the northeast corner of Highway 50 and Culver Street are nearly complete, with work on the new facility to begin next month.
Director of Facilities David McKenna says the 84 thousand square foot building will stand three stories high, and may house incoming freshmen. It will consist of two wings, one running parallel to Highway 50, and the other along Culver, with a center point at the intersection. Projected cost of the project is $14 million.
"Certainly it will be a Wi-Fi building," Mckenna said. "There will be a kitchen area and an area for meetings or multi-purpose use in the center corridor area."
Crews hope to have the new residence hall complete by July 2011 in time for the fall 2011 semester.
Each of the five West Hall dormitories being demolished are approximately 50 years old, says McKenna. The remaining eight dormitories in the area will remain in use, but could be the site of future residence hall development.