Kalamazoo College has broken ground on new residence halls for the first time in more than 50 years.
The new dorms will be located on West Main St. on the Eastern side of the K College campus. Most of the dorm rooms will be singles geared at juniors and seniors.
The two buildings will add more than 200 beds for on-campus housing. K College currently has enough on-campus housing for about 850 students. It enrolls more than 1300 students. Malcolm Smith, Dean of Students at K College, said more students want to live on campus as housing becomes more expensive and scarce in Kalamazoo.
“When we send 600 students into the community, that’s 600 spaces that are not available to the local community. I’m sensitive to that. I think we all are,” he said. “So if we can start to house our own, that starts to loosen up the rental opportunities for the local community.”
Kalamazoo College does not require juniors and seniors to live on campus. Smith said that most similar liberal arts colleges require students to live on campus for four years. He said students who do stay on campus feel more connected to the college and have a higher retention rate.
“Interestingly enough, if you look at the research, students who live on campus achieve higher academically. They develop higher critical thinking skills, etc. etc.,” he said. “And the benefits go on and on.”
The college is also adding an adjacent parking lot with solar panels that will provide electricity for the building.
The project is expected to cost $55 million. Almost half of the funding came from an anonymous donor. K College plans to have the buildings ready for students by Fall 2027.
