Students living in Barton Hall will not be able to return to the hall for the fall of 2004 because of low occupancy in the residence halls, Department of Residence officials said.

Betsy Ness, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication who lives in 107 Barton Anders, said she was surprised by the announcement.

Ness said she has no idea where she will move to yet, but hopes her house will stay together.

Alexander said in a meeting with the Inter-Residence Hall Association last week the Department of Residence will close Barton Hall for the 2004-05 academic year because demand for on-campus residency is low.

Alexander said the lack of demand in the residence halls is because of decreased enrollment at Iowa State, which has caused a problem with the department being able to adequately fill the residence halls.

“If we had more demand we wouldn’t be closing [Barton Hall],” he said.

The Department of Residence amoved Barton Hall residents, because it would be easier to move the 100 students currently living there, opposed to residents of a larger hall, Alexander said.

Closing Barton Hall will save the Department of Residence $270,000; however, department officials said the saved money didn’t contribute to the decision.

“The savings of a small building compared to a large building is not that much different,” Alexander said.

Barton Hall currently has three female floors and one male floor, which comprise two houses, Anders and Tappan.

During Thursday night’s IRHA meeting, Alexander said Tappan House may move into Buchanan Hall for 2004-05. Anders house would move in with the existing Honors house, Harwood, in Lyon Hall.

Yet, despite the plan, Alexander said there are other options being discussed. He said the Department of Residence may also explore moving Anders and Harwood house to Buchanan for the 2004-05 academic year. The houses would then be relocated in Barton Hall for the 2005-06 academic year when it reopens, he said.

Tappan Hall would be moved to Lyon Hall where it would stay, he said.

Barton-Lyon-Freeman-Fisher-Nickell representative Dan Burke said residents of Barton Hall are dealing with the closing well.

“[The residents] are pretty understanding about the situation; not too many are worried,” he said.

Alexander said the Department of Residence will probably take advantage of an unoccupied Barton Hall by renovating it during the year it is closed, a plan residents were notified of in an e-mail last week.

“We don’t know yet what the size of the renovation [will be],” he said.

Board of Regents approval is required before Iowa State starts a large project.