Plans to renovate Winkler Residence Hall have been canceled due to costs, and instead the building will be demolished.
Appalachian State University had been working with architects on possible renovations when it was discovered that the architects were incorrect in their cost estimate by more than $6 million.
It was decided that there was not enough money to make noticeable changes, said Tim** Kane, director of the Department of Housing and Residence Life.
“If we couldn’t do it right we just decided we can’t afford to do anything,” Kane said.
There are plans to build something once Winkler has been demolished hopefully within three to five years, Kane said.
Though Appalachian’s campus is short on beds for incoming freshmen, it is not due to the change of plans for Winkler. Kane said that about 25 males and 47 females are living with residence assistants in the traditional residence halls and five females are living in two lounges in Belk Hall.
“The primary reason we are short on beds for freshmen is that we have not received the number of returning student cancellations we had anticipated upon previous years’ records,” Kane said.
The closing of Winkler has not affected the surplus of students living on campus in any way, Kane said.
“We knew last year we were not using Winkler, so it was not included in the room reapplication process for this fall,” he said. “So no students were assigned to Winkler.”
Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services Susan Davies said she believes there will be no affect on future enrollment.
“Our projection for fall 2014 is 3,000 freshmen and 1,025 transfer students,” Davies said. “Any changes with Winkler Hall will have no impact on the freshmen or transfer numbers that we plan to admit and seek to enroll for fall 2014.”
**CORRECTION: The article identified the director of the Department of Housing and Residence Life as Tim Kane. The actual name of the person is Tom Kane. The Appalachian apologizes for the error.
Story: NICOLE BELLAMY, Intern News Reporter
Photo: LACY MATUSEK, Intern Photographer