10/04/11 ks

HAYS, Kan. -- With enrollment continuing to soar, officials at Fort Hays State University foresaw the need to create more on-campus housing for students. Construction is beginning on the answer to that need.

FHSU officials will conduct a ground-breaking ceremony at Homecoming to officially launch construction of the new Tiger Place residential facility. The ceremony is set for 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at the south end of the former site of Agnew Hall, which was razed in the summer of 2010 because of its deteriorating condition and to make room for new and more modern housing. In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved into the McMindes Hall Living Room. The public is welcome, and refreshments will be served following the ceremony.

"Our enrollment has more than doubled since the turn of the century, and we just announced another all-time record last week with a 2011 fall semester headcount of 12,802 students," said Dr. Edward H. Hammond, FHSU president.

The first phase of Tiger Place will open on schedule for the fall semester of 2012, with 123 beds. The second phase, which will provide 107 beds, will open in fall 2013. The cost for the Tiger Place project is $9.2 million. That includes not only construction but also architectural fees, furnishings and so forth. Paul-Wertenberger Construction Inc., a Hays company, is the developer/contractor for the project.

Tiger Place is just one of four construction projects on the FHSU campus. The others are a new road along the dike by Big Creek connecting Dwight Drive to Gustad Drive; a new academic building, the Center for Networked Learning, which will be constructed in the area between the Big Creek dike and Tomanek Hall; and a new indoor sports facility at the southeast corner of the FHSU campus near Lewis Field Stadium.

The total cost of the four projects is just a shade under $24 million, with an projected economic impact on the region and state of nearly $38 million.