Eastern Washington University is preparing to replace a long-dormant residence hall on its Cheney campus with a new, larger student housing building at 106 N. Ninth.

As planned, the new building will replace Dryden Hall, a 61-year-old, three-story, 45,000-square-foot building located on a 1.5-acre lot at the northwest corner of Cedar and Ninth streets, about three blocks northeast of EWU's Roos Field. 

“We stopped housing students regularly in Dryden Hall just before COVID,” says Melanie Potts, director of housing and residence life at EWU. “We have used it intermittently for winter break housing or summer camps, but we have not regularly housed your typical college student in there for probably six or seven years.”

The proposed residence hall project is valued at $50 million. Plans are currently in the early stages of design to determine which amenities to include and the mix of residential unit types, Potts says. Detailed unit designs and room styles are unknown at this time and building permit applications and development site plans haven’t been drawn up yet, adds Potts.

Spokane-based NAC Inc., which does business as NAC Architecture, is the architect for the student housing project. A general contractor and engineering company haven't been chosen yet, Potts says.

NAC Architecture currently is designing the demolition plans for Dryden Hall, which is expected to begin sometime this summer, she adds. After crews finish the razing the building, construction of the new residential hall is anticipated to begin early next year. The new building is scheduled to be move-in ready in advance of the 2028-2029 school year, Potts says.

EWU Housing and Residential Life is an auxiliary department of the university, which means the project is receiving funding through an institutional bond approved in February by the university's Board of Trustees, and not through state capital funding or tax dollars, she says. Revenue generated by students living at the new hall will pay off the bond.

“As an auxiliary (project), it will be funded by the housing and dining fund,” she explains. “We’ll go out and receive a bond, and we will be responsible for paying for that bond. It will not come out of the general Eastern Washington University ledger.”

EWU's new residential hall is expected to more than double the capacity currently available at Dryden Hall with between 350 to 400 beds. The new building will help meet student demand and improve the aging student housing system on campus, Potts says.

“We, not unlike most institutions across the county, have some aging infrastructure and some gigantic concrete buildings that are reaching the time where we want to renew things for our students,” she says. “When we’re replacing Dryden, it’s not really about replacing Dryden as much as it’s about getting the correct number of really quality beds in our system for our student populations.”

Last year, focus groups and surveys helped determine that students want housing with increased privacy and updated amenities. A mix of larger and smaller community areas, multiple styles of rooms, updated bathroom facilities, and other safety features are expected to be included in the completed project.

“We know that students are really desiring community and trying to create spaces that facilitate that sort of accidental interaction that results in friendship is going to be important for us,” Potts says. “I hope that what we will create are both large group spaces where a group of ten friends could come together, but also some more pocketed spaces where students can get away to study or be in a small group of friends.”

Comparable residence halls on campus are priced between $5,000 and $6,000 per quarter for a dorm-style double room and a base meal plan, according to the university's website. Student costs for the proposed residence hall aren't yet available, Potts says. 

“We’re trying to make sure that we get the right mix of unit type for our students. Moving forward, we're trying to be really thoughtful about how we design amenity space and how we consider our entire housing system and not just this new facility,” says Potts. “Rather than building something as a one-off, we're trying to create a neighborhood for our students with some amenity sharing and community spaces.”

EWU currently has six university-owned residential properties, including four traditional residence halls and two apartment complexes, according to the university’s website.