Cheney Hall to be closed for the third academic year

Former Residence Hall Cheney Hall will be closed for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Cheney Hall would be closed again for the 2017-2018 academic year due to insufficient funds to upgrade the building to 2017 building codes. This decision was made by Residence life, Facilities Management and other administration.

Cheney Hall is a historic residence hall that was closed due to foundation problems approximately two weeks before the 2015-2016 academic year began.

During the spring 2016 semester it was decided to keep Cheney Hall closed for the 2016-2017 academic year and that repairs to the foundation would be made during the fall 2016 semester. In November 2016, the repairs were made to the foundation and the building was once again deemed structurally sound.

According to Residence Life Director Kendra Skinner, even though the building is structurally sound the building still cannot open because it now has to be brought up to 2017 building codes.

Skinner said The cost of bringing this building up to code would cost nearly $8.5 million. This money would go into new electrical and plumbing throughout the building and the installation of an elevator among other smaller items.

“The $8.5 million wouldn’t even go into any cosmetic work, the windows would still be old and there would still be mismatched tile. So you have to think how much money are we really spending here and is it affordable,” Skinner said.

Skinner explained there are larger projects around campus that need more attention, such as a full electrical upgrade and new roof for the Towers Complex, which was approved by the Board of Regents on Feb. 16.

The idea had been discussed before of creating Cheney Hall into an office space with some classrooms as other buildings throughout campus are being renovated. Though according to Skinner, that would only be slightly cheaper and cost $7.5 million. Skinner said since the building has been sitting empty for soon to be three years, there should be no additional wear and tear to the building.

“Facilities Management has winterized the building, they have shut off and drained all the water out of the building, all the room doors have been opened and the ventilation system is on so there is air moving throughout the building,” Skinner said.

According to Skinner, Facilities Management routinely goes through the building to make sure everything is still in order. DPS also checks the outside of the building to make sure there are no weak points outside the building that people could get inside.

Skinner said with the opening of two more Greek houses in the Greek Village, the pressure has been taken off housing and she believes even though the incoming freshman classes continue to grow, the housing situation will not be desperate with the continued closure of Cheney Hall.

Now that the building has had its foundation repairs it could be used in an emergency situation.

“Hypothetically speaking if any building on campus has to be shut down mid-semester, Cheney Hall could be reopened in a week's time and used,” Skinner said.

She went on to explain that Cheney Hall would need to be deep cleaned, water would need to brought back into the building and some rooms would need to be repainted.