Center Hall recently opened to student residents after its conversion from hotel to residence hall.
Hyatt Place on Center Street became Center Hall after the WKU Student Life Foundation (SLF) entered a three-year, $5.4 million, lease with the hotel. Adjustments to the hotel’s interior began over the summer.
After the lease ends, SLF may purchase the property. The purchase option would cost $18 million according to the lease agreement between SLF and HPBG Investments, the owners of Hyatt Place, said Catherine LaRoche, the assistant vice president for student engagement and executive director for Student Life Foundation.
“We felt that was a great solution for our students, to generate more beds,” LaRoche said.
SLF announced the closure of Normal and Regents halls in May, which eliminated 600 beds from on campus housing, LaRoche said. Center Hall’s maximum capacity is 212 residents and will mainly house upperclassmen students.
Those two residence halls, along with the 400-bed Hilltopper Hall, were the three newest dorms on campus. Regents and Normal are temporarily closed, while Hilltopper is permanently closed and set to be torn down, because of engineering and construction flaws.
LaRoche said the hotel’s location on campus and condition made it a desirable option.
“While our staff came in and did some minimal updates, it wasn’t a lot,” LaRoche said.
An extra wardrobe, dresser and small table was added to each room. Queen-size beds were left, while king-size beds were replaced with two extra long twin-size beds.
“Both rooms have their perks,” LaRoche said. “You know, with the queen bedrooms, you get the bigger bed, but then with the extra long twin beds, you get the added storage space underneath.”
The Spread and Java City restaurants relocated to the hall’s first floor lobby from Regents Hall and will open Monday. Both restaurants will operate through Grubhub, and Java City will also have in-person ordering available.
The hotel’s original dining area seating was replaced with seating from Hilltopper Hall.
“With us temporarily closing Normal, Regents and Hilltopper Hall, we really tried to repurpose all the furniture in those facilities and update our furniture in all the other residence halls,” LaRoche said.
Eight laundry machine sets were added to the first floor and the hotel’s fitness center has been repurposed as a study space. Gym equipment was stored to make room for tables and chairs.
Freshman biology major, baseball student athlete and Center Hall resident Ethan Reynolds goes to the Preston Center with his roommate instead.
“Our parking garage is literally just right outside the door,” Reynolds said. “It’s just very accessible to everything.”
Reynolds toured WKU as a junior in high school, and was expecting to live in Hilltopper Hall, which is now closed.
“It was pretty nice, but then coming in here, it may even be even better,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds has also been enjoying the hall’s outdoor pool. Pool access is limited to Center Hall residents, and is open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Additional pool rules were created by the university, and can be found on Center Hall’s web page.
Center Hall residents must comply with another new rule to not hang wall decorations or remove the existing artwork.
Hotel items replaced by WKU were stored on hotel property instead of WKU’s Service Supply building since they are still owned by Hyatt Place and will be used once the lease ends.
“It is like a hotel, but at the same time, it’s very homey,” Reynolds said. “As long as I have a bed and somewhere to sleep, I’m good with it.”
