Wichita State University plans to close the Fairmount Towers residence hall in mid-August.
Fairmount Towers, located on the northwest corner of 21st and Hillside, has been open to students for 53 years. Operation inefficiencies, its location off the main campus and limited student demand all contributed to the recommendations to close the dormitory.
WSU spokesman Lou Heldman says the university will move about 300 students into The Flats at WSU, the school's new apartment complex.
“It’s like when the plane takes off, it’s always better to have the seats filled than not," Heldman says. "We worked to develop a plan that we could move the Fairmount students to the Flats at exactly the same prices that they were committed to in Fairmount.”
Heldman says Fairmount Towers will be demolished in the next couple of years. The university will determine what to do with the site.
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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.
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