UCA officials will break ground on an $18 million residential hall on Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. near the visitor’s stand at Estes Stadium. Bear Hall, a 120,000-square-foot five-story facility, will replace Minton Hall, which has been closed for the past three years.
The residential hall will include 385 beds, three seminar rooms, two apartments, a large lobby area with a kitchen and laundry and study rooms.
Bear Hall will feature twelve 20-person skyboxes on the fifth floor. The $2 million skyboxes are being built with private funds collected by the athletic department.
About 50,000 bricks taken from Minton Hall will be used in the construction of Bear Hall. The residential hall will be located directly behind the visitor’s stand at Estes Stadium.
In case of inclement weather, the ground breaking will be rescheduled to a later date. Bear Hall is scheduled to open in fall 2012.
The new residential hall is being funded through a bond issue. Part of the funds from the bond will be used to renovate other residential halls, said Diane Newton, vice president of finance and administration. About $2 million in improvements will be made to State, Conway, Hughes and Carmichael halls.
