Construction halted on Western's two public-works projects

All of Western’s on-site construction activities, including construction of the new residence hall and work on the new interdisciplinary sciences building, have been suspended.

Contractors for those projects have been notified and the work sites are being shut down. University officials received additional guidance from the Washington state Office of Financial Management on March 30 and, as a result, all on-site construction-related activities associated with Western’s public works projects have been temporarily suspended. The onsite construction of these projects is suspended until midnight on April 6, 2020, unless extended beyond that date as per Governor Inslee’s Proclamation 20-25.

The new residence hall will have approximately 400 beds in a mix of room types, a net gain of 264 beds after accounting for the loss of beds at Highland Hall. Western's new Interdisciplinary Science Building (ISB) will add essential teaching labs and active learning classrooms to meet the growing need for degree programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. Flexible spaces will allow for shared use and greater interaction and collaboration among STEM and non-STEM disciplines, support the Washington state goal of increasing STEM graduates, and reduce barriers to fulfilling completion requirements.