Western Carolina University

Above: Crews pour concrete for Balsam Hall sidewalk.

Crews have been rolling out the sidewalk and moving beds and desks into the newly built Balsam Hall at Western Carolina University to welcome the building's 298 residents this week.

Required inspections for occupancy of the four-story, 426-bed building at the center of campus will be conducted Thursday in anticipation of freshmen arriving to move in starting at 7 a.m. Friday, Aug., 21, followed by upperclassmen on Saturday and Sunday. Students assigned to rooms in the wing of the building that will not be complete until September will be temporarily assigned to other rooms on campus.

“Balsam is going to be a wonderful community in a well-designed facility,” said Keith Corzine, director of residential living. “The new building also is going to be a tremendously convenient place to live.”

Built at the heart of campus, Balsam Hall is just feet from the new Courtyard Dining Hall and close to the 1-year-old Campus Recreation Center and A.K. Hinds University Center. Together, the buildings border a grassy, pedestrian-friendly quad at the center of campus.

The fourth residence hall to open at Western Carolina in five years, Balsam is the first completed as part of a $50.2 million project to build two residence halls to house about 800 students. Its companion residence hall, Blue Ridge Hall, is now under construction and scheduled to open in fall 2010.

Students helped design Balsam and Blue Ridge halls, which will be home to WCU’s residential Honors College and Teaching Fellows Program. Inside is a mix of modern single- and double-occupancy rooms as well as offices for Honors College staff, lobbies, common areas and meeting rooms.

Architects also incorporated features such as columns and balconies that Honors students came to associate with the college when located in Reynolds Hall. Also, after a design charette involving students, architects added innovations such as basement garage band space and a central arch complete with a study room that will bridge the fourth floors of Balsam and Blue Ridge halls.

“When the residence halls are complete, WCU’s Honors College will be housed in a facility that will rival any home for Honors in the nation,” said Brian Railsback, dean of the Honors College.

The 128 students assigned to the wing of Balsam Hall that will not be ready before Labor Day have been temporarily reassigned to rooms in Madison and Harrill residence halls, as well as study lounges converted into residential rooms in Scott Hall.

“We simply could not make up enough time for some construction delays early on, including some weather delays at critical times,” said Corzine. “We are very disappointed that the entire facility is not complete and ready for occupancy, but we remain committed to making the experience of living on campus as positive as possible for students who are temporarily relocated.”

Students unable to move into Balsam will receive a $250 credit as well as a pro-rated, per-day amount equal to the difference between the housing fees for Balsam and their temporary room assignments. In addition, students will be offered moving assistance.

Additional information about moving into Balsam Hall will be available on the residential living Web site and sent to affected students’ WCU e-mail accounts. WCU’s residential living office can be reached at (828) 227-7303 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.

Maintained by the Office of Public Relations
Last Modified: Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009