VINCENNES, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Because of a storm in April of 2020, there is an empty space where Harrison Hall at Vincennes Universitystood for more than 50 years.
Since it was built in 1967, Harrison Hall housed over 300 students at a time.
“We had always continued to keept it up,” Linda Waldroup, Vice President of Financial Services, said. “We’d done renovations keeping it modern and up to date.”
The storm in April caused siginificant structure damage which made it uninhabitable. The university decided it was not worth the price of restoring the building to its previous state.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing the campus, no students were living in Harrison Hall at the time.
“We feel extremely lucky, extremely blessed, that no stidents were in there because there almost certainly would’ve been injuries at least due to the extensive damage,” Andrew Young, Director of Architectural Services and Facilities, said.
Executives at Vincennes University have not decided what will replace Harrison Hall. Until a decision is reached, Waldroup said it will be a green space for students.
According to Young, the future of the space where Harrison Hall used to stand is bright.
“I’m excited to explore all the avenues and all the potential options for that location,” he said. “Although it’s sad what happened to the existing building, it’s kind of a exciting progress and it could really do a lot to improve our campus once we’ve determined what will go there.”
Young said that once the decision is made, it will still be multiple years of designing and building before it is completed.
