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Latham's last stand

Residential hall to be replaced by parking deck, bookstore and police substation

Published: Thursday, September 10, 2009

Updated: Friday, September 11, 2009 09:09

Over the years, Latham Residential Hall has been home to about 9,000 N.C. Central University students.

    The co-ed residential hall, which has 188 beds, was built in 1960 for just over $.5 million. It was last renovated in 1996 at a cost of over $3 million.
     But Latham, named after Louise M. Latham, teacher and former dean of women from 1948 to 1968, is going the way of the dinosaurs.
    It's being demolished at a cost of $147,000 to make way for a five-level parking deck.

    The deck will have 750 parking spaces for students, faculty and staff, according to Mike Logan, constrution engineer, NCCU design and construction services.
    Additionally, it will house a campus police substation and a new bookstore.
    Design and planning  for the parking deck began in last September. Demolition of Latham Residential Hall began August 17 and is expected to be completed next  June.

    The budgeted cost for the 250,000 square foot deck is $15 million.
    Neighboring Concepts designed the deck, which is the largest of five proposed parking decks. Other decks will include the Alston Avenue Garage (810 spaces), the Convocation Center Garage (720 spaces), the Concord Street Garage (980 spaces) and the Cecil Street Garage (945) spaces.
    Funding for the project came from a $3.1 billion North Carolina higher education bond passed in 2000. The bond allocated about $119 million to NCCU for construction, renovation, and land acquisition.
    In the 2007 Campus Master  Plan, the following objectives were established: to respond to increased enrollment, to reorganize the campus into coherent precincts, to redirect growth within the neighborhood context, to restore "the sloping hills, the verdant green," and to return the campus to students.
 

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