University of Northern Iowa administrators are asking the state Board of Regents for the O.K. to demolish a 75-year-old dorm and to approve buying an apartment complex that’s adjacent to the Cedar Falls campus.
UNI spokesman Pete Moris says over 40% of UNI students live on campus and there’s been a growing demand for campus housing, but students prefer apartments rather than a dorm like Campbell Hall. “When you look at the…over $27 million of deferred maintenance that we would have to put into Campbell, just to keep it standing, it didn’t seem like a really fiscally responsibile thing to do for the university,” Moris says, “so when this opportunity arose to purchase this apartment complex, it was really a win-win.”
A 10-acre property called “The Quarters” sits near UNI’s basketball arena and has 11 apartment buildings that could house up to 480 students. Moris says the apartment complex is fairly new. University officials say the $21 million purchase price can be covered by the university’s revenue bonds.
“You’re talking about a facility that’s got its own clubhouse. It’s got its own pool, so it’s really kind of the best of both worlds,” Moris says. “You’re very close to your campus community, but it also feels like, ‘Hey, you’re on your own,’ and beginning your adult life and living in an apartment.”
Campbell Hall — the dorm targeted for demolition — doesn’t have a fire sprinkler system and hasn’t been occupied for three years. The Board of Regents is scheduled to consider the university’s housing plans at its January 15 meeting.