Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., has been given the OK to build a $7 million, suite-style residence hall. It will be the first new student housing on the campus in nearly 50 years.
The project received unanimous approval from the South Dakota Board of Regents.
The university says the new facility will provide rooms for as many as 150 students. That would increase the capacity of on-campus housing to a a little more than 900 beds.
The new three-story hall will have about 48,000 square feet of space and will include a combination of four-person and two-person suites with private bathrooms. The hall also will have community areas with kitchens, meeting/study rooms and laundry facilities.
Construction will begin next year, and the new hall is slated to open in 2017.
Jerde Hall, built in 1968, was the last residence hall built on the Northern State campus.