,

UW-Eau Claire Considers Converting Nursing Home Into Student Housing

More Than 300 Students Are Living In Area Hotels, Converted Study Halls

By

With campus dormitories overbooked, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire officials are eyeing a 100-room nursing home as a possible new residence hall.

Mike Rindo, assistant chancellor for facilities, said the university has 340 students living in hotels and converted study lounges. On top of that, he said future plans to renovate the campus’s two largest dorms — known collectively as Towers Hall — will displace 1,200 more students over two years.

Rindo said they’ve been working with the Grace Lutheran Church to lease or buy a nursing home located one mile from campus that could potentially house up to 200 students.

Stay informed on the latest news

Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“It would certainly be something that would provide us with some much-needed housing,” said Rindo.

The administrator noted that the school would need to house more displaced students in the future, if it follows through with plans to renovate other dorms after the Towers Hall project is done.

While the church’s board of directors was interested in a possible lease or sale, the congregation voted to table any deal on Sunday.