The groundbreaking ceremony for Wessel Hall took place on Feb. 18 to celebrate the construction of ACU’s newest facility.
Members of the board and key donors for the facility attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
Demolition of Gardner Hall began in September while in December, Wessel Hall began construction.
Kevin Campbell, senior vice president for operations, said students were surveyed on what they were looking for in a residence hall and designed it with a lot more community and outdoor space that the students were desiring.
A couple of years ago the board approved a vision to reimagine residence life at ACU and started the creation of what is called the Freshmen Village.
“Bullock Hall was the first iteration of the Freshmen Village, and the second version of this is going to be the second residence hall,” Campbell said. “This is first and foremost promoting a stronger living experience and many of the elements that we put into the Bullock Hall design or things we learned in the process, you’ll see many of those same elements in the second residence hall being built.”
Shannon Kaczmarek, dean of community life and wellness, is a member of the Executive Committee for the ResHall builds and has participated in weekly meetings around planning and design.
“The groundbreaking was beautiful weather and encouraging as we got the opportunity to acknowledge those who have made this project possible and there was a lot of energy and gratitude,” Kaczmarek said. “I believe New Hall #2, as well as the work previously done to build Bullock Hall, will shift the culture of the first-year experience and compel continued growth and development across all our campus housing.”
Madi Miller, a senior convergence journalism major from Wylie, spoke on behalf of the student body at the groundbreaking ceremony.
“Everyone at the ceremony that day was very happy and excited to announce and celebrate the building of Wessel Hall because they know that having a nice new dorm will bring in more Jesus-centered people who want to come to ACU to serve Christ in everything they do,” Miller said. “It was a very exciting day for the Wessel family and everyone who knows and loves them for all they do.”
Wessel Hall is expected to be complete no later than August 2023.
