Construction at WKU hasn’t slowed down since the completion of Gary Ransdell Hall last month.

Bryan Russell, director of Planning, Design and Construction, said current projects include making changes to Creason lot, expanding WKU’s Glasgow campus and building new housing.

Russell said the Master Plan committee presented ideas at its meeting Friday about updating the circulation pattern at Creason Lot, including improving two-way traffic and possibly adding a connection to Highway 68-80.

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“There will definitely be some improvements this summer,” he said.

Also in the planning stage is the expansion of WKU’s Glasgow campus.

“There is a need at Glasgow,” he said. “They were full when we opened on the first day.”

There are temporary trailers set up on the Glasgow campus to make more space. Russell said WKU has put out a request for a feasibility study to look at what the campus needs and what changes could be made.

Horse Cave sophomore Kelsey Gregg, a student at WKU’s Glasgow campus, said the classes and buildings are crowded.

“We have so many students, and our classes are full to the max,” she said. “The upper-level classes thin out a little bit, but the 100-level classes are crazy.”
    Gregg said there are also several faculty members sharing offices, which makes it difficult for students to visit them one-on-one. She said she is looking forward to the expansion.

“It will be nice and much less stressful to be able to spread out more,” she said.

On the main campus, overcrowding is a problem as well, especially in housing.

Brian Kuster, director of Housing and Residence Life, said WKU is hoping to develop new housing in the form of apartments that would wrap around the parking structure being built on the corner of 13th Street and Kentucky Street.

Kuster said WKU would initially build 36 units designed for juniors and seniors.

“Currently we don’t have any apartments for students, and a lot of upperclassmen want to live off campus,” he said. “We wanted to provide another option to those students.”

Russell said the next phase in expanding housing would be to build non-traditional housing across the street from the new parking structure.

In addition to these developments, there are now more than 100 other projects around campus, according to the Capital Construction Project Status Report supplied by John Osborne, vice president of Campus Services and Facilities.

These include replacing the roof at the Environmental Sciences and Technology Building, creating a reference area in Helm Library to host a Confucius Institute and construction on the new music hall.

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