Tate Page Hall will be demolished to make more room for South Lawn

BOWLING GREEN Ky.-Demolition is underway for Bemis Lawrence Hall and the Helm Library at Western Kentucky University, and Tate Page Hall will soon be taken down by the wrecking ball.

Tate Page is located right next to South Lawn. The current goal is to eventually tear down the building to make extra room for south lawn. Chief facilities officer at WKU Bryan Russell said the project has been in the planning stage for quite some time.

“We’ve been planning this for over 10 years, maybe even up to 15. The master planning group and Western has anticipated that a lot of people would be happy that this building finally is taking another step towards being raised,” Russell said.

South Lawn is where a lot of students gather after classes to unwind for the day. There’s already a lot of space, but students are saying it would be nice to have more.

“I’m really excited to see South Lawn expand. I’m a cheerleader so we stunt around here a lot, so it’d be nice to have more space to do that,” said WKU sophomore Abbey Norvell.

South Lawn is also used for sports and various campus events, meaning more space will benefit a lot of groups.

“I throw a football out here with my friends too. It’s leisure time, and it’d be awesome to have more room to do that too in the expansion,” Norvell said.

Tate Page has been standing since 1967. Russell said the building has served its purpose, and he’s looking forward to using the extra space to benefit the students.

“The student experience is more than just the classroom. When it’s a pretty day like today, we have lots of students who utilize the green space. It’s a place for them to relax, have fun, be friends, and develop those relationships of a lifetime,” Russell said.