Tate Page to serve as swing space

Caitlin Carter

 

Although Tate Page Hall – the familiar, circular building near the bottom of the Hill – is on life support, WKU isn’t ready to pull the plug on the 40-year-old structure just yet.

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Before Tate Page is demolished, it will serve as an interim building for programs that will eventually get a new building or are currently in facilities that will undergo renovations in coming years, President Gary Ransdell said.

While Tate Page’s lifespan may only be between five and six more years, the building will play a very important role during this time, Ransdell said.

The future of Tate Page is very time-dependent, said John Osborne, vice president for Campus Services and Facilities.

“It’s going to take a lot of long-range facilities master planning,” he said.

Campbellsville freshman Brandee Skaggs said she sees why WKU invests in building projects, such as the new College of Education building.

“It only depends on the quality the building is in,” she said. “If the building is already fairly new, there’s no need to do anything. The only other building I really have problems with is Grise (Hall).”

Kadi Vilardo, a sophomore from Marietta, Ga., said she believes buildings such as the fine arts center should be left alone, but Tate Page needs some work.

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“I’ve only had one class in Tate Page,” she said. “But I saw a lot of room for improvement.”

Plans for Tate Page Hall:

1. Once the College of Education building is finished in January, the programs that are now in Tate Page Hall will be moved there.

2. The Navitas program, which is currently housed with the Confucius Institute and Chinese Flagship programs in a trailer, will move to Tate Page. These programs, along with the Honors College, will eventually find a permanent home in a new building near the College of Education building.

3. Programs now in Grise Hall will move to Tate Page when WKU receives enough state money to renovate Grise.

4. Those programs will move back to Grise when the renovation is finished.

5. Tate Page will be vacated and demolished.

 

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