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Ground broken on Simpson Hall
New addition to NWC residence halls honors Alan and Ann Simpson, to open fall ‘06
Good news to all upcoming sophomores that will be living on campus, a new hall underway will honor former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson and his wife, Ann Simpson.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place on Thursday, Sept. 1 at the athletic field north of Cody Hall. The new hall will be named Simpson Hall and will be ready for next year’s sophomores to move in by August 2006.
The new hall will be constructed a little differently than all of the other standing halls. It will be built with suite-style rooms with four people to each suite. Each person will have an individual bedroom, but they will share the living room and bathroom areas.
There will be cable hookup as well as Internet hookups and a kitchen space with sinks and counters, but no stoves. A kitchen and laundry area are planned in the building similar to the other halls.
The hall will be designed to hold 80 co-ed residents. Athough it is a co-ed hall, the rule still applies that each suite is not co-ed. It will be four women to a room and four men to a room.
“We really were interested in building a suite style.We were excited about building something more attractive to sophomores,” commented Residential and Campus Life Director Dee Havig.
It was decided that building a new hall was better than remodeling or rebuilding Bridger Hall for several reasons.
“It was definitely decided a majority of the campus community that felt that rebuilding the hall closer to the other three resident halls would be a better site for a new building,” explained Havig.
Another reason was simply because of the extensive water and smoke fire damage done to Bridger Hall left in uninhabitable.
Alan and Ann Simpson of Cody seemed to be very moved that the building was going to be named in their honor.
Alan shared, “It’s never happened to me before and it‚s truly an honor.”
Ann Simpson said that the key to college is a dormitory, so she was pleased that a residence hall was being named in their honor.
Alan was on the Board of Trustees for many years at Northwest and served in the Wyoming House of Representatives before his election to the U.S. Senate in 1978. He commenting that he had “wonderful years with a wonderful board.”
Student Senate President Cory Pendley, NWC President Miles LaRowe and Steve Cranfill, chair of the NWC Board of Trustees also spoke at the ceremony.
Sign ups for the new dorm will start in April 2006. Students must meet certain requirements to live in the new hall. A student must have lived here for one year, have completed at least 24 successful credit hours, have at least a 2.3 G.P.A. or “C” average, and have a trouble free discipline record. Each student must maintain their 2.3 G.P.A. to be able to stay in the dorms throughout the year.