The demolition of Short and Denney Hall will provide approximately 80 parking spaces, according to UCA President Houston Davis. The demolition will begin in May.
The UCA Board of Trustees voted unanimously to demolish the structure during a March 3 teleconference meeting.
The demolition will cost $803,130 and is expected to be completed in June. The construction of the parking lot will cost $421,704 and is expected to be completed in August.
The Short side of the hall currently holds offices that were moved from McAlister while it undergoes renovations.
Kevin Carter, associate vice president for facilities, said the faculty in Short Hall will move out “as soon as the semester ends, in that first week of May.”
“Our plan is to have all of our contracts in place and begin to work immediately after we get those faculty members moved out,” Carter said.
Davis said renovating the Hall would cost almost double the most expensive dorm renovation, with just the structural remediation coming to $8.1 million, “and that’s before we even get into the actual renovations, and architect and engineering fees and costs.
“Over the last few years, we’ve done significant renovations to several halls, but this particular residence hall complex did not score out to be eligible for those renovations,” Davis said.
The board also voted to not raise the room rates for Greek Village.
Tier one of Greek Village, which includes the houses of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX), and Phi Sigma Kappa will all maintain a double room rater of $2,395 a semester or $3,350 for a single room.
Tier two of Greek Village includes all other Greek housing on campus, like the three fraternity houses and two sorority houses on Donaghey Avenue, the National Pan-Hellenic Council men’s complex on Western Avenue, the two sorority houses on Augusta Avenue and the NPHC women’s complex on Augusta Avenue.
These will continue to cost $3,190 for a double room and $3,350 for a single room per semester.
On Feb. 17 the trustees raised room and board rates for the rest of campus by 5%.
Residence hall room rates now range from $2,362 to $2,825 for a double room, and $3,060 to $3,945 for a single room.
Apartment housing options range from $2,665 to $2,825 for a double room, and $3,465 to $3,945 for a single.
Tier two of Greek Village is the most expensive double-room housing option on campus, even after the board increase. However, the single-room option is the fourth cheapest on campus.
Tier one of Greek Village’s double-room rate is slightly more expensive than the cheapest residence hall options — Arkansas and Bernard halls, which cost $2,362 per semester.
The single-room option for tier one of Greek Village has a higher rate than all residence hall options, other than Donaghey Hall.
The board will next meet 10 a.m., May 5 in Wingo Hall.