McCormick to be razed, $96 million residence hall plan announced

Entrance to McCormick Hall. Photo by Madeline Pieschel / madeline.pieschel@marquette.edu

Amy Elliot-Meisel, Managing Editor of the Marquette Tribune

After housing students for more than 50 years, McCormick Hall will be demolished as part of University President Michael Lovell’s new $96 million residence hall development plan.

The plan, approved by the Board of Trustees, is set to start construction in late 2016, according to a university news release. It includes building two new, connected residence halls that are slated to be finished by fall 2018.

Undergraduate freshman and sophomore students will be slotted for move-in to the new halls at the beginning of the 2018-’19 academic year. After the new halls are finished, McCormick will be torn down. Ideas for what to do with its space at 1530 W. Wisconsin Ave. are being considered as part of the Master Planning process.

University Architect Lora Strigens said the connected residence halls, which will stand south of Wells Street between 17th and 18th Streets, will have around 375 beds each. The co-ed housing will be connected through the ground floor by dining and campus community spaces.

“For Marquette University to be among the top Catholic and Jesuit institutions in the world, it all must start with the student experience,” Lovell said in the release. “We have to think and act differently and embrace new ways of living and learning for our community.”

The halls will feature suite-like settings, opposed to the traditional residence hall model of small double rooms. They will be designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards as part of Lovell’s plan to make campus more sustainable.

“This significant development will position Marquette as a leader in re-imagining residence halls to better meet the needs of today’s students,” Strigens said.

The funding will come from cash reserves, debt financing and funds from the university’s capital budget, according to the release. After the construction’s completed, Marquette will have nine open residence halls housing roughly 3,7000 undergraduate students.