2025 and then: High Rise renovations still paying off after a decade

After 10 years, the massive High Rise renovation is still serving students to this day.

The largest men’s dorm on campus, High Rise Hall opened in 1968. The dorm now houses 375 students and looks a lot different than it did before.

High Rise in the mid 1960s

In the summer of 2015, High Rise underwent a large-scale makeover. Former men’s basketball coach Casey Alexander told former President Randy Lowry that High Rise needed an upgrade. He wanted to be able to show off a nicer dorm to recruits coming in. Ninety-two days and $7.5 million later, High Rise became what it is now.

“The doors were taken off, the bathrooms were down to the concrete, the hallways were down to the concrete,” said Mike Smith, former resident hall director. “They had a big fence around the dorm. It was a total construction site.”

When students came back, they were met with many upgrades: new paint, wood ceilings, new furniture, open lounge areas, updated bathrooms and a brand-new lobby.

“I think the biggest change was the lobby,” said Lorn Jaques, a resident before and after the renovation. “It went from cramped and dark to much larger and airy. Instead of a place people kind of just walked through, it became one I could often find people hanging out in. There were many movie nights or sessions of Smash Bros. played in that lobby, which was great.”

High Rise Lobby

Today, 10 years after the renovation, High Rise continues to serve as a central hub of campus life, a clear sign that the investment paid off. What was once an aging dorm has become a brighter, more inviting space where students study, relax and build community.