#97-02-30
For Release: Feb. 28, 1997
Contact: Peter Bailley

Knox College broke ground Friday (February 28) for a new $1.75 million student residence. A Caterpillar backhoe turned the first load of earth for the 52-unit residence hall, located near the corner of West and South streets on the Knox campus. Construction will be fully under way by April 1 and occupancy is planned for January 1998.

"This is the first construction project directly related to enrollment growth at Knox," said Knox College president Rick Nahm. Knox currently has an enrollment of 1,100 students, an increase of approximately 200 students since 1990.

Nahm and representatives from the Knox College Board of Trustees, the City of Galesburg, the architect and the general contractor wielded silver shovels at the groundbreaking.

The facility is the first new residential construction at Knox since 1967, although in recent years several buildings have been acquired by the College and renovated and converted to student residences.

The two-story, brick townhouse-style residence has four adjacent units, each housing 13 students in both single and double rooms. A common unit in the center of the structure will contain a large meeting room, as well as vending, laundry and other support services. The architect is MacLachan, Cornelius & Filoni of Pittsburgh. The general contractor is Fox Construction, Galesburg.