New dorm being built at Waynesburg University
Construction is underway on Waynesburg University’s new dorm.
The new dorm is on the former site of the former Ray Hall, which was torn down last summer. As a student, University President Douglas Lee lived for two years in the old dorm, which was built in 1963. The building was shut down in 2023, with students rerouted to other dorms on campus.
“It had outlived its purpose, and it was time for a new dorm there,” Lee said.
Intended for upperclassmen, the new dorm will hold around 60 students, about the same as Ray Hall. While Ray had been a female dorm, whether the new dorm will be male or female is still up in the air, Lee said.
The total cost of the project is around $15 million, including $3 million for a nearby parking lot that will accommodate 60 cars, Lee said.
As with other recent upgrades at the university, including its new dining hall, the project was fully funded by donors. The university also has a commitment from a donor for a new facility, which will be announced sometime in the next eight months, Lee said.
“We’ve not borrowed any money, we’ve not actually spent student dollars on these projects,” he said. “This is donors that say ‘We want to help.'”
The three-story dorm will come with larger living spaces, including suites with a kitchenette.
Lee said the accommodations were influenced by student surveys where they outlined what they would like to see in a new dorm. Students also helped select the interior colors and flooring, Lee said.
“They’re not engineers, they can’t structurally design it, but their input into what they’d like to see in this dorm has been really important,” he said.
Lee said a sculpture in front of the new building would honor Ray Hall, which was named for former university board trustees Joseph W. Ray and Joseph W. Ray Jr.
“It’s not like Ray Hall’s going to completely vanish,” he said. “It’ll continue to live in the memory and be recognized.”
Tentative plans call for construction to continue through the 2026-27 school year, with students moving in that fall, Lee said.