Spelman College is moving forward with plans to build its first new residence hall in nearly two decades, a project aimed at modernizing its campus and increasing its on-campus housing capacity, according to a report by Zachary Hansen in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The college recently secured financing to begin construction on a new 670-bed dorm, which will allow it to retire two aging buildings that lack air conditioning.
The new residence hall is a cornerstone of the college's effort to provide updated housing for its students. Dawn Alston, Spelman’s vice president for business and financial affairs, told the Development Authority of Fulton County board, per the AJC, “This is our first new residential hall in several years. It will be updated, modernized, and will really speak to the student experience on Spelman’s campus.”
To finance the project, the historically Black college has been approved for up to $140 million in federal bond financing. Underwritten by Raymond James & Associates, the bonds are federally tax-exempt and will not affect local property taxes, the newspaper reported. The new building is projected to be around 230,000 square feet.
The new dorm will be built in the place of two older campus buildings, Howard-Harreld Hall and Dorothy Shepard Manley Hall, both of which were constructed in the 1960s. Alston noted that the two halls are “frankly not worth renovating, and they are un-air-conditioned,” according to the AJC.
With roughly 1,400 beds currently available, the new residence hall will add 320 beds to the campus. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Alston added that the additional space will allow approximately two-thirds of the student body to live on campus, moving the college closer to its goal of housing 85% of students on or within a one-mile radius of the institution.
The new residence hall is the latest in a series of improvements to Spelman’s campus. Last October, the college opened the newly renovated performing arts center named after Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson-Jackson. The Jacksons donated $5 million, the largest donation from an alumnus in the school's history, as part of the overall $17.3 million raised for the renovation of the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building.
