Above: The partially demolished Helder Residence Hall (July 12).

view more demolition photos | view archive photo |
view artist's rendering of new dining hall on Helder site

Western Carolina University’s Helder Residence Hall will be demolished this summer as part of a group of construction and renovation projects designed to create more of a “college quad” feel on campus with green space and a pedestrian-friendly environment.

A 60-foot excavator began dismantling the four-story, 400-bed residence hall on Tuesday, July 10, and demolition will continue through early September.

This fall, construction will begin on the site for a new dining hall. Upstairs in the new, two-story, 53,000-square-foot dining hall will be an “all-you-care-to-eat” location with salads, fruits and vegetables, pastas and pizza, home-style foods, grilled foods, sandwiches and desserts. Downstairs will host a convenience store and retail outlets, including Panda Express, Starbucks, McAlister’s Deli, Grill Works, Freshëns and Zoca’s, a Mexican-themed restaurant.

Barring any delays, the new dining hall will open in fall 2008 – about the same time as work is completed on the new student recreation center, improvements and additions to the quad at the center of campus, and upgrades to Forsyth Building.

The new dining hall ultimately will replace Dodson Cafeteria, enabling that facility and Leatherwood Residence Hall to be taken down to make way for a new residence hall.

Construction was completed on Helder Residence Hall in the fall of 1966, the same year as Leatherwood Residence Hall and Dodson Cafeteria. The two residence halls were originally 400-bed women’s residence halls. Cost to construct all three buildings was about $3 million.

Helder Residence Hall was dedicated in honor of the late Horatio A. and Adah Clark Helder on April 8, 1967. Mr. Helder was a member of the board of trustees of what was then Western Carolina College, and he was an executive at Champion Papers Inc. of Canton. Horatio Helder died in 1961, and his wife died in 1962. The couple left more than $250,000 in trust to the college for a scholarship fund for students from Haywood County.

Demolition photos (week of July 9, 2007)

Archive photo

Construction was completed on Helder Residence Hall (above) in the fall of 1966. (Photo courtesy Special Collections, Hunter Library)

Artist's rendering of new dining hall on Helder site

A two-story, 53,000-square-foot dining hall to be constructed on the Helder site will open in fall 2008 (artist's rendering below).