Whitworth College broke ground earlier this month on a $7.8 million dormitory building at the east end of its North Spokane campus.


Whitworth spokesman Greg Orwig says the structure will be four stories tall and will have a total of 160 beds in suite-style units. Each suite will accommodate up to eight students, with four bedrooms in each suite and two students to each bedroom, he says. The four bedrooms will connect to a common living area that will include a living room and bathroom.


The new structure, which has yet to be named, is expected to be completed before fall 2006.


Walker Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the general contractor on the project, and Northwest Architectural Co., of Spokane, designed it.


The building is being built just north of Whitworths newest dormitory, the 3-year-old Boppell Hall, and just south of a six-building residential complex referred to as the Village.


Once the new building is completed, two or three buildings in the Village that are close to the new structure will be demolished. Orwig says those buildings, each of which houses between 15 and 20 students, wont be needed after the new building opens.


Whitworths enrollment has grown by roughly 3 percent a year in recent years, and the new dorm will help handle some of the schools growth. Orwig says, however, that the small Presbyterian college is slowing its growth intentionally by accepting fewer new students to keep its class sizes and its student-to-instructor ratio small.


For the recently started school year, estimated total student headcount is 2,400, up from 2,380 last school year.