Barton Hall will be temporarily closed during the 2004-05 academic year, members of the Inter-Residence Hall Association learned Thursday night.

Randy Alexander, director of the Department of Residence, said Barton Hall will be temporarily closed by fall 2004 because of an insufficient demand for student housing.

“Closing this building will save the Department of Residence $270,000,” he said. “The Department of Residence began planning to close Barton Hall in November.”

Barton Hall currently houses about 100 students.

Residents of Barton Hall will have the opportunity to move elsewhere on campus and will have a higher priority for room selection, Alexander said.

Alexander said the Department of Residence does not have plans to close other residence halls at this point.

Willow Hall will also allocate more rooms for males to meet the high demand, Alexander said Two floors in Willow Hall will remain single-gendered, and the other six will become co-ed for the coming year.

The Department of Residence has also proposed room and board rate increases for the 2004-05 academic year.

“The board plans for all Department of Residence housing would increase by 3.75 percent for the upcoming year,” Alexander said.

“In the past five years, the rate increases for room and board have been above 5 percent due to the Department of Residence’s Master Plan,” Alexander said. “This upcoming year, the rate increases have dropped back down to inflationary levels.”

The increases would have to be approved by both ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and the Board of Regents.

An increase in Internet capacity for residence hall students was also discussed.

Alexander also discussed super-single rooms available to students next year.

A super-single room is a double room housing one student. Because of low occupancy rates in the residence halls, the Department of Residence will be making about 400 double rooms into super-single rooms for the 2004-05 academic year.

“Students may select a super-single room through the Step Inside program [on AccessPlus] beginning in March,” Alexander said.

The current cost for a super- single room is $4,272 per year.