Leatherneck Nation

Tanner Hall will be shutting down in fall 2019

leatherneckcountry wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:00 pm Tanner Hall will be shutting down in fall 2019

Well when they decide to implode it maybe it can be incorporated into a pregame Promo. Tailgating, explosives, high rise buildings flattend and alcohol, oh yeah a football game too.

Not a bad Idea to boost attendance. Downside is there are only so many highrises to implode. When they are gone we will have to...... oh wait nevermind, the school will be closed by then.

They've said at this point that the plan is not to tear it down. Probably it depends on which direction enrollment heads over the next few years and how much it would cost to remodel it vs tearing it down and building a newer, but much smaller dorm somewhere. I'm pretty sure it's too close to Q-Lot and Hanson Field to do anything involving a football game while tearing it down. I seem to remember most of Q-lot being closed when they took down Wetzel, and that was somewhat being blocked by Tanner. Probably the closest anyone will be able to be is on the other end of Q-Lot over by Western Hall.

From the article from News3:

In new information released to NEWS3 by University Relations, the plan to take the dorm offline is based on projected enrollment numbers for fall 2019.

While the email from UHDS to resident assistants confirms that Tanner Hall will be taken offline, University Relations said “this is currently still in the discussion phase among university leadership.”

There is no plan to raze Tanner Hall as the building would be reopened if an uptrend in enrollment occurs.

If enrollment figures stay the same, all new freshman will be housed in Bayliss and Henninger Halls only.

Taking Tanner Hall offline could save $30 million in deferred maintenance costs, according to a facilities assessment from 2008.

Resident assistants and building service workers will be shifted to other halls as needed.

Tanner Hall opened in fall 1968.

WIU's Tanner Hall to go offline.
From KHQA-TV-7 News:
https://khqa.com/news/local/wius-tanner ... go-offline

I assume that Tanner will eventually have to be put down. But that old circular cafeteria area (I think it was a cafeteria, right?) is rather unique. I think that piece of the building could possibly be salvaged for something useful. Every college campus needs that one building which has a wow factor and everyone wants to walk in and look around. I dont think we have one right now. For William & Mary &me last weekend, it was the Wren Building, the oldest still operational academic building on a college campus. That place is a treasure trove for William and Mary. The Chapel area of it hosts about 100 weddings a year as well as an organ recital every Saturday AM. The big Blue Room upstairs is where the students go and defend their theses and dissertations. When I was out at Montana State, they had a floor of a building either on campus or very close to it devoted to hosting the American Computer and Robotics Museum (http://www.compustory.com/). A nerd like me just had to stop in there. Got to chat a bit with the retired chair of their Computer Science Department a bit. The Malpass library probably has more wow factor than any other building on campus but you cant really go in there and start jabbering with your kids about all the neat stuff on display. Location right next to Q Lot should open up a lot of possibilities.

Welcome Center? or do we already have one?

sealhall74 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 5:51 am I assume that Tanner will eventually have to be put down. But that old circular cafeteria area (I think it was a cafeteria, right?) is rather unique.

That is the Bay-Henn cafeteria which also serves Tanner (and formerly Wetzel) students.

The cafeteria no longer serves anything but dinner, and only Sunday through Thursday, so we welcome all our new freshmen students to no breakfast before classes, and effectively encourage them to go home for the weekend.

Tere North wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:10 amThat is the Bay-Henn cafeteria which also serves Tanner (and formerly Wetzel) students.

I think that Seal Hall is referring to the circular area at the apex of the two Tanner wings and not the cafeteria that joins Bayliss to Henninger.

wiu712 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:51 am

Tere North wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:10 amThat is the Bay-Henn cafeteria which also serves Tanner (and formerly Wetzel) students.

I think that Seal Hall is referring to the circular area at the apex of the two Tanner wings and not the cafeteria that joins Bayliss to Henninger.

That's it. Wasn't it a cafeteria at one time?

Yes, it was before my time but I remember being told that it was originally a cafeteria. I think when I was there it was re-purposed as a weight room. Maybe that was Wetzels' flying saucer not Tannner's. Time is taking it's toll on some of the details.

Western did have more cafeterias in past years. The "flying saucers" at Tanner and Wetzel were cafeterias.

The original cafeterias for both Thompson and Higgins were on the top floor of each dorm. That made for spectacular views. But having to haul the food up 19 floors and bring the garbage back down was not very practical. So a ground-level cafeteria was added-on to Thompson, and the top-floor cafeterias were closed.

Food service options have decreased over the years. The cafeteria at Lincoln-Washington-Grote was shut down several years ago.

Food service for the Freshmen dorms (Bayliss, Henninger, and Tanner) is very limited. Only an evening meal is served Sunday-Thursday. There is no breakfast, no lunch, and no Friday/Saturday dinner. That means a long walk to either Thompson or Corbin-Olson.

Back when I went to Western, Saga Food Service ran the cafeterias. Saturday nights were "Steak Night". The steaks were grilled outside of the cafeterias. You could smell those steaks all over campus!