The fate of Kirby-Smith Hall hangs in the balance after nearly 4,500 students moved into their dorms for the fall semester. The University’s largest dorm has a capacity of 702 and was constructed in 1962 but is not being used as permanent housing this fall. “Kirby-Smith is being used as temporary housing for the first three weeks for those students who do not have assigned rooms,” Mimi Lavalle, Residential Life communications manager, said. “They will be moved into fail-to-claim rooms shortly after the beginning of the semester.” Last week, 4,448 students moved into their dorms. Only 112 moved into Kirby-Smith. Residential Life is only using the second and third floors for temporary housing. With the number of applications to live in the University’s oldest dorm falling, Kirby-Smith has become a source of unnecessary maintenance for Residential Life. “We’ve maximized resources and de-staffed Kirby,” Steve Waller, Residential Life’s associate director of operations, said. Residential Life officials said applications are down because of lower enrollment and not lower demand. “We have a 3 percent decrease in applications this year, which is the same as the decrease in freshman enrollment for this year,” Renee Snider, Residential Life’s associate director of operations, said. “Also students now have more options around campus.” Besides being used for temporary housing, Kirby-Smith will be used in emergency situations such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005. According to Waller, the New Orleans Health Center and the University Operation Center’s key officials will use Kirby-Smith if any such emergency arises. Residential Life also plans on using Kirby-Smith for conference housing over the next few years. There are several other options for Kirby-Smith. One option is moving Residential Life offices into the dorm from Grace King Hall and opening Grace King back up for residence. Another option would be tearing Kirby-Smith down altogether. Waller says he expects a decision sometime this year.
—–Contact Ryan Duncan at rduncan@lsureveille.com