Pearl Hall: plans for new student residence are well under way

RELEASED: Nov. 9, 2006

DANVILLE, KY—During last year's homecoming festivities, Centre President John Roush announced plans for the construction of a new residence hall. Now a year later, Pearl Hall is well on its way to becoming the College's newest student housing option.

A groundbreaking ceremony for Pearl Hall is set for this coming spring. Construction on the three-floor facility, which will be located on Main Street, is scheduled to begin in May 2007 after commencement and should be finished in time for students to move into in August 2008, though there will still be landscaping and other details to finish, says Randy Hays, vice president and dean of student life. Dedication of the building will take place during homecoming in October 2009.

"The footprints for Pearl Hall have been established," says John Cuny, vice president for finance. "There is still detailed interior work to do, and we're working on plans to begin deciding on specifics such as electricity, mechanical work, furnishings for the rooms, telephones and such."

Cuny says that Pearl Hall will offer the College and its students a great deal of flexibility.

"Pearl Hall will give options for our rising juniors and seniors to live in different areas of campus; it'll give them a change," he says. "It also gives the College the option of having more students living on campus."

Nearly 94 percent of Centre's approximately 1,150 students live in campus housing. The addition of Pearl Hall will give more students the chance to easily participate in extracurricular activities: the College offers more than 2,000 yearly campus events and around 100 clubs, teams and groups.

Like all Centre residence halls, room selection occurs through a seniority-based room lottery. Pearl Hall, which will be open to all classes, will house 146 students.

"The building is geared toward not just providing students a place to live, which is important, of course, but also to create living-learning communities with inviting lobby and study common areas," Hays says.

Pearl Hall is being built with a gift from Centre trustee Robert Brockman '63. The residence hall is named in memory of Brockman's mother and grandmother, who were both named Pearl.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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