DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

 

 

Western Kentucky University’s newest residence halls, Regents Hall and Normal Hall, will shutter for code-related repairs through at least the coming academic year. The 2018-built Hilltopper Hall, which has been closed since 2024, is set to be torn down due to repair now being determined as infeasible.

The nonprofit Student Life Foundation, which owns the campus residence halls, made the announcements Friday following an independent engineering assessment by a nationally recognized firm, according to WKU.

The new assessment found that Regents Hall and Normal Hall’s ceilings require replacement to comply with building codes. Bracing must also be installed on the both buildings’ first and second floors to “enhance resistance” against high winds and seismic activity, according to the study.

“Regents and Normal do not appear to share the same significant structural issues identified in Hilltopper Hall,” SLF Chair Brad Howard said in a statement. “However, some components do not meet Kentucky’s commercial occupancy standards and must be addressed before students can return.”

Normal Hall houses 260 students, while Regents Hall houses 375; their closures will require shifts across fall housing assignments and affect roughly 1,000 students, according to the announcement. Hilltopper Hall previously housed 400 students.

“WKU has sufficient capacity to meet on-campus housing demands,” SLF stated. The organization added that it’s “finalizing a lease agreement” with the Hyatt Place hotel next to campus for flexibility and alignment with students’ housing preferences.

WKU Housing and Residence Life is distributing updated housing assignments, SLF stated. The Housing and Residence staff will be available via phone and email during the weekend for students’ questions, according to the release.

Regents Hall and Normal Hall received certificates of occupancy before they had opened, according to SLF. But an assessment was commissioned in spring 2025 “as a precautionary measure” after the foundation questioned if the buildings could experience similar issues that were previously found to exist in the shuttered Hilltopper Hall, SLF stated.

The two halls opened in fall 2021 as the centerpiece of WKU’s roughly $48 million living-learning complex of WKU’s First Year Village.

SLF confirmed the eventual demolition of the six-story Hilltopper Hall, which had widespread construction and design flaws previously revealed by an in-depth structural analysis. SLF in May 2024 sued the architecture firm for Hilltopper Hall, Sewell and Sewell Architects, PLLC, before adding the contractor, Scott, Murphy & Daniel in December.

The site’s future use will be determined later, SLF added.

“The changes we announced today, including a new premier housing option and significant renovations to several existing halls this summer, represent our commitment to delivering a premier living and learning experience at WKU,” said said Martha Sales, WKU’s vice president of Student Experience and Dean of Students.

Added WKU President Tim Caboni, “Through the years, we’ve worked closely with the Student Life Foundation to address challenges as they have arisen … Our students and their well-being remain our shared top priority, and we’ve demonstrated in the past that we’re willing to make tough decisions if they’re in the best interest of our students.”

Additional information and updates are being posted at www.wku.edu/housing/fall2025.