KEARNEY – Demolition of two vacant residence halls on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus is scheduled to begin next week.
National Concrete Cutting Inc. will start work July 8 at the site of University Residence North (URN) and University Residence South (URS) on UNK’s west campus. The project is expected to continue into November.
Completed in 1991 and 1992, URN and URS were built as a temporary and quick solution to housing needs for the fraternity and sorority community, which was moved onto campus to provide a safe, education-centered environment for members. The wood-frame buildings were only designed to last 20 years.
Three decades later, they had the highest annual maintenance and operating costs among UNK’s residence halls and continued to experience mechanical infrastructure issues. It would cost an estimated $37 million to make the repairs and improvements needed to keep them in use.
“The decision to demolish any building is not taken lightly and studied carefully. It was clear that URN and URS could not sustain the type of extensive renovations necessary to meet our students’ needs,” said Jon Watts, vice chancellor for business and finance.
Instead of investing in those buildings, UNK officials decided to create a new on-campus home for fraternities and sororities in a location that promotes collaboration and a stronger sense of community among students.
The first phase of that $32.65 million project was completed in January 2023, when fraternity members moved into Martin Hall following a major renovation that transformed the 70-year-old residence hall into a modern living space for UNK students.
Located just east of the Nebraskan Student Union, the 42,500-square-foot building serves the Delta Tau Delta, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Tau Gamma fraternities. It features dedicated housing pods, lounges and chapter rooms for each fraternity, as well as flexible housing units, shared study areas and a large event space for the entire Fraternity and Sorority Life community.
A 41,000-square-foot residence hall was constructed directly north of Martin Hall to house the Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Xi Delta and Gamma Phi Beta sororities. Opened in January 2024, Bess Furman Armstrong Hall features a similar layout with chapter rooms, chapter lounges, study areas, assigned housing pods and flexible housing units, along with meeting and lounge space for UNK’s three multicultural chapters – the Lambda Theta Nu and Sigma Lambda Gamma sororities and Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity.
Together, the residence halls represent the premier fraternity and sorority housing in the region.
Recently, URN and URS were also used to temporarily house employees who were relocated because of other campus construction projects at Calvin T. Ryan Library and Warner Hall. Those employees have since moved back to their permanent locations.
After the $1 million demolition project is complete, the URN and URS building sites will be transformed into green spaces. Both sites will be available for future development.
The parking lots will remain, with zoning for any valid campus permit.
