BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WDRB) — Western Kentucky University is planning a major new residence hall project after multiple dorms built in recent years were closed because they were deemed unsafe for students to live in.
The university plans to tear down the aging Hugh Poland Hall and Douglas Keen Hall and replace them with a nearly 1,000-room dormitory.
Housing has been a challenge for the university in recent years. Two residence halls that opened in 2021, Normal and Regents Hall, are now empty and fenced off.
They closed in May 2025 after structural issues were discovered. State records show the anticipated cost of repairs is $45 million to $55 million combined.
Western Kentucky University is planning a major new residence hall project. (WDRB photo)
"What's going on? You're spending all that money, but it's a waste now. You have to take it down and figure out what is going on," WKU senior Ciro Albamont said.
The problems extend beyond those buildings.
Hilltopper Hall opened in 2018, but about six years later students living there had to move out mid-year after the building's facade shifted and the dorm did not meet state building codes.
State records show it will take an estimated $2 million to demolish.
In the meantime, WKU converted a hotel into student housing and renamed it Center Hall. It is now the most expensive dorm for students on campus.
WKU President Timothy Caboni said the university is shifting away from the Student Life Foundation, the non-profit that owns the dorms, to a public-private partnership with national construction company Gilbane.
"It's a 40-year partnership with Gilbane that will be our primary partner going forward," he said. "The Student Life Foundation will transfer its assets to the university and eliminate all of their debt."
Caboni said the university plans to change how construction is monitored.
"We need to make sure we get the best engineers to hold folks accountable as they build these buildings and to be candid," Caboni said. "I'm not sure that was happening before, as a matter of fact, we didn't have access to the construction site, we weren't allowed in our facilities as they were being built."
Meanwhile, the Student Life Foundation is suing Sewell and Sewell, the architects who designed Hilltopper Hall.
The new project, Elevate WKU, would create a nearly 1,000-room residence hall on the site of the demolished buildings. The public-private partnership still requires approval in Frankfort.
The new dorm is expected to open in fall 2028.
For more information on the project and to view other renderings, click here.
More Coverage:
Western Kentucky students forced to switch dorms after structural issues found
Crews begin demolishing old dorm at Western Kentucky University
Dorm where mold found at WKU won't reopen until fall
Mold prompts WKU to close dorm and relocate students
Copyright 2026 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
