The Simpson College Board of Trustees has approved hiring anarchitect to expand the capacity of Barker Hall.

According to Stephanie Krauth, director of Residence Life,adding more space to the residence halls has been part of ResidenceLife’s renovation schedule for the past two years.

“For years [the college] has considered adding on to PickenHall,” said Krauth. “[At the end,] adding to Baker made the mostsense.”

The addition to Barker should be completed by the fall of2005.

There’s no certainty how the building will end up, but thecollege has some ideas regarding the building’s appearance.

“We are looking at an addition that will make Barker in manyrespects mirror Kresge,” said Jim Thorius, vice president forstudent development.

The addition to Barker will be attached to the east wing.

If everything goes as planned, the new student center will fitin the middle of the two residence halls with almost the samestructure.

Thorius said the Building and Grounds Committee will search forthe architect.

This committee is in charge of all constructions that take placeon campus, the Physical Plant and also the Residence LifeDepartment.

Budget specifications for the addition have not been madeyet.

In the initial drawings, the addition included room forapproximately 72 beds. However, the Residence Life Departmentdoesn’t know if that number is definite or if more beds will beadded.

Before any plans for the addition are finalized, Simpsonstudents will be invited to share their opinions about theconstruction of the building.

“We want to get students’ input as we develop the plans for theaddition,” said Thorius. “As we did when remodeling Kresge, wewould like to take into account the opinion of the students.”