It is not the end of Colby Hall. Instead, it is a fresh start for the old dorm.
Colby Hall was home to roughly 350 first-year women every year since 1957 and is one of the last dormitories to be renovated.
Craig Allen, the Director of Housing & Residence Life, said the renovation began right after the last group of students moved out.
“We began work immediately on Colby Hall on May 11,” Allen said. “The renovation is progressing along quite well.”
“The plans are to completely gut the building and renovate it. It’s an extensive process similar to what we did to Milton Daniel Hall.”
According to Allen, the $19 million renovation is all-inclusive. It includes construction, design, engineering, furniture, fixtures, etc.
The TCU physical plant’s website says Colby will have “a mixture of double and suite style rooms, including super suites.”
“The updates will include the addition of a study lounge, common rooms on each floor, and a more centralized set of stairs. In addition, a new theatre in the basement and a printing station on the first floor will be added.”
“We are not altering the footprint of the building,” Allen said. “If you trace an outline of the building, that part will remain essentially the same.”
The two wings of the building facing Sherley Hall will have a stairwell addition built to serve as an exit on both ends of the building. That addition will replace the fire escapes mounted on the side of Colby.
The main problem that arises from this renovation is the loss of beds.
Allen said residence halls in Worth Hills will open up to freshmen to help accommodate the loss of beds in Colby. When Colby opens up in August 2015, it will have roughly 330 beds.
Ellie Tarr, a sophomore nursing major lived in Colby during its final year.
“The renovations are long overdue,” Tarr said. “Colby was really old compared to the other residence halls, which gave it ‘character,’ but it had some technical problems and was just really old.”
Tarr also said if she was a freshman again, she would want to live in the new, renovated Colby.