After a year of shuttered doors and vacant beds, one of the two remaining Towers Residence Halls will reopen its doors.

Wallace Hall will reopen for the fall semester after being closed for the 2005-06 academic year, due to fewer students contracted to live on campus in residence halls.

Pete Englin, director of the department of residence, said that Wallace was closed in May 2005 because the lack of occupancy in the residence halls meant the space wasn’t needed.

“We’ve had a very good upsurge in re-contracting students,” said Darryl Knight, associate director of residence. “These are students who want to stay in our system, whether it’s in normal housing, suites, apartment-style living in Frederiksen Court or apartments in Schilletter or University Village.”

Knight said Wallace is a good place for students who wanted to live on their own, but don’t want to live in an apartment. He said that students have the flexibility of purchasing a meal plan, but it would not be required.

Thaddeus Ternes, a former Wallace resident assistant and senior in computer science, said he left for an internship in the fall last year, and when he returned he was disappointed to find Wallace closed.

“The sense of community was a great experience,” Ternes said. “It’s something you don’t get to experience anywhere else.”

He said he would be graduating before Wallace reopens, but if he were to remain a student he would return to Wallace without a second thought.

Opening Wallace is only part of the plan to house more students.

Englin said the DOR would also reduce the eligibility age for students in Schilletter and University Village to 19 instead of 21.

Helser Hall will also be open next fall. According to a press release, Helser, which was reopened for interim housing in fall 2005, “will remain open with a maximum of 300 residents.”

Contracting for Wallace dorms will begin next week, Englin said.