OU President Joseph Harroz said Adams Tower will be demolished in summer 2023 during the OU Board of Regents' Sept. 15 meeting in Tulsa.
The university planned to tear down Adams Tower during winter 2022, but Harroz said the demolition date changed to avoid leaving a mess for students during spring 2023. Harroz said the university plans to complete construction on a new building by 2025.
Walker Tower will be the next dormitory scheduled for demolition, and Couch Tower will follow, Harroz said. New buildings will be constructed in between demolitions.
As the university strives to increase its freshman class through its strategic plan, Rick Nagel, OU regent and academic chair of research, said the board has had robust discussions about capacity. Currently, there are 4,698 full-time freshmen, Nagel said.
The university replaced Adams Tower's 908 freshmen beds by purchasing the Cross Village complex, which offers 1,200 beds. Couch has 1,396 available beds and Walker offers 1,404.
If the class continues to grow at a rate of 2-3 percent each year, Harroz said the board will have to decide whether it needs to consider building another dorm to meet housing overflow.
“We're not there yet. … If we continue this growth plan, that's sort of a four to five-year horizon decision to then build,” Harroz said. “So it's on our dashboard of things to look at, but it's not an immediate trigger and shouldn't be for the next several years.”
The new dorms are part of the university’s Freshman Housing Master Plan. The plan includes a report on items like total bed replacement layout, potential floor plan layouts, unit types, peer institution review, and amenity and operational items, according to an email from the university’s previous director of media relations, Kesha Keith.
Regent Natalie Shirley, who serves as the board’s committee chair for facilities and properties, said the strategic plan for student housing is being developed, and she expects additional information will be presented to the board at a later time.
An OU spokesperson wrote in an email to the Daily that the complete timeline for demolition and construction is still being finalized.
