The 42 student residents in Thomas Hall will be finding a new place to live next semester.

Maintenance issues and a dwindling need for space persuaded Director of Residential Life Robert Reed to discontinue residential usage of the building for this fall.

“Thomas Hall is an old building with old systems,” said Ann Moss, Physical Plant assistant director. To comply with current building codes, the plumbing, air conditioning and elevator systems would require complete renovation.

“I’d love to keep the building (as a dorm), but we would have to have it totally renovated for continued use for students,” Reed said. Being one of the oldest buildings on campus, Thomas Hall showed its age this semester when a number of maintenance problems arose.

The old-fashioned elevator – one of the oldest in the city – cannot be operated and students must use stairs to reach the upper floors of the four-story building.

Vice President of Student Affairs Marcia Petty said Physical Plant has reported the water piping to be in need of extensive work – which the university has not allocated money toward.

Recent occupancy levels have dropped to about 80 percent in the dorms, reducing the need for additional space. The residents in Thomas Hall will be consolidated into the four other residential halls.

Formerly a residency for the Jesuits, Thomas Hall was converted for student living for the Fall 2005 semester to accommodate the large incoming freshman class. Quick renovations allowed about 40 women to move into single rooms. Though attendance fell after Katrina, the university resumed residential usage of the building in the fall of 2006.

Mary Erin Imwalle, mass communication junior, who has lived in Thomas Hall since Fall 2005, said some residents are not happy about leaving, though no one has complained or blamed the university. Imwalle has not experienced maintenance problems herself but has heard of complaints from other women living there – predominantly about leaky sinks and general plumbing.

As for the building’s future uses, the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., has not made any decisions. Wildes told The Maroon in an e-mail that he will await recommendations from the San Antonio-based Kell-Munoz architectural firm, which is currently working on an overall master plan for the university.

Steve Heath can be reached at [email protected].