Annie Boyd Hall residents will enjoy new windows, updated vinyl wood-strip flooring and central air conditioning after its nearly $10 million renovation, set to begin in summer or fall of 2012.
The historic residence hall, which was built in 1937, will be closed for the fall and gutted, receiving new walls, utilities and roofing.
“The building is on the National Historic Register,” said Steve Waller, director of Residential Life. “Our intent is not to make it ultra-chic modern, but to maintain some of the historical characteristics of the nice.”
Holmes said there are air circulation cutouts above the room doors, leaving a piece of history of how students lived before air conditioning.
Jessica Sprick, Annie Boyd resident and studio art freshman, said making the dorm modern would take away the “pizazz.”
“It does feel homey, and it feels antique,” she said.
Economics freshman Madi McDonald, who also lives in Annie Boyd, said she appreciates the building’s ornate outside staircases and enjoys living there.
“The old stuff is pretty; it just needs to be cleaned up a bit,” she said.
By 2018 or 2019, Waller said Annie Boyd, Evangeline, Highland and Louise Garig halls will have undergone complete renovations.
ResLife is aiming to finish the construction on Annie Boyd by fall 2013. However, the closure is not detrimental to the availability of space for on-campus living, Waller said.
The opening of ResCollege North and East Laville Halls in fall 2012 will provide 700 beds, and Kirby-Smith Hall added 350 more beds this fall.
Collectively, these halls will give ResLife a boost of about 1,000 more beds than it had in fall 2010. There will be 127 more beds after Annie Boyd Hall is completed, Waller said.   
In addition to the Annie Boyd  renovation, the project will include extending the water line from the Old President’s House to the Horseshoe Community to allow central air conditioning in all of the buildings of the Horseshoe, Waller said.
 
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Contact Julliann Allen at [email protected]