SOU is working on adding housing for Seniors on their campus

ASHLAND, Ore.- Southern Oregon University is working on adding housing for seniors on their Ashland campus.

SOU’s still moving forward with plans to demolish an old dorm to transform it into housing for senior citizens. SOU President Rick Bailey says they hope the housing will help boost revenue for the school to ensure it remains affordable and accessible to students. He added that senior housing will reinforce their message that life-long learning is for anybody, at any age.

“We’re talking about a partnership that would allow those residents, space permitting, to take classes that we have,” He said, “and not just to audit them, but to actually take them, to get second degrees and to do other things”.

Bailey hopes the housing will fully integrate senior residents into the university space. Demolition on Cascade Hall, which is being funded by the state, is set to begin summer or fall 2024. Bailey says the university doesn’t take projects like this lightly and they plan to re-purpose anything they can from the demolition.