The University of Missouri is demolishing one of its longest standing residence halls. The demolition of Laws Hall began on Monday and is anticipated to take five weeks to complete.
The demolition is a part of the final phase of the Residential Life Master Plan. RLMP began in 2001 when the University of Missouri Board of Curators approved a four-phase plan after a projection of increased enrollment. After phase IV began, Residential Life added an additional phase.
Phase I of the RLMP included the construction of residential halls and dining on Virginia Avenue in 2004. That was the first major construction project for Residential Life since the 1960s.
Moving forward to 2015, phase V’s first step was the replacement of Jones Hall, which was completed in summer of 2016. Currently, the Dobbs Replacement Project is underway and is expected to be complete in August of 2017. The remaining part of phase V includes demolition and construction of two new residence halls along with a new dining hall facility. The new residence halls will be five stories tall and the dining hall will be called The Restaurants at Southwest.
Residential Life is self-funded by fees from residents and campers who stay in residence halls during the summer session. Money is allocated each year from the Residential Life budget, along with bonds, to fund the projects. With Mizzou’s enrollment being down, the future of the site is still being assessed. Officials will be paying close attention to the availability of bed spaces and enrollment trends before making a final decision, MU News Bureau Director Christian Basi said in a statement. Basi said Residential Life works closely with Enrollment Management each year to determine what space is necessary to house students, and is watching the data closely as fall approaches.