AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) – Built in 1990, later acquired by the University in 2014, Cambridge Residence Hall was once a pillar of student housing on campus. That was, until disaster struck in 2023.
As the summer of 2023 came to an end, just days before move-in day, the university sent an email to the 305 incoming Cambridge Hall residents, announcing that they would need to find a new place to stay for the upcoming school year, as water damage in the dorm made the building essentially a lost cause. While the situation was not ideal for any of the parties involved, Auburn’s Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, Bryan Rush, worked with his team to try to make things right. Now they’re in the midst of tearing down the building to build an all-new Cambridge on the same plot where one of Auburn’s most historic residence halls once stood strong.
“We found in the fall of 2023 we were having issues, from the standpoint of not being able to prepare in time to make sure our students were able to move in and be there in the fall, we had to scramble,” said Rush.
The university attempted to make things right with the families affected by refunding all their expenses toward Cambridge, temporarily placing residents in local hotels, and providing an additional $5,000 to each family to help with last-minute housing costs.
Rachel Everett, a current Auburn junior who was supposed to live in Cambridge that year, was grateful for the gestures from the university. However, she still felt the stress of being a first-year student with no definite place to live on or around campus.
“I got a call about two days before I was set to move in, it was a little hectic, a little crazy. I was really looking forward to living on campus,” said Everett. “My meal plan was upgraded, and we got a little bit of help in trying to find a new place, which was nice. We also got to have dinner at President Robert’s house, which was really sweet.”
The project has a budget of around $100 million, according to Rush. With that, in addition to the already popular location, it could potentially rival other residence halls for popularity among incoming freshmen.
“That location was really popular with our students. You would have thought that it was a little more removed, but at the same time, our students loved it. When we did satisfaction surveys, we always found that the building had raved reviews,” said Rush.
Rush explained how the new building will be built with the original Cambridge Hall in mind.
“This is gonna mirror the old Cambridge, we’re gonna be working to get roughly 680 beds, roughly, in that space, so it’ll not be quite double what the old Cambridge occupancy was, but it will be two beds per room sharing a bath,” said Rush.
Rush also made it clear that his team is working as quickly as they can to complete this project for future students.
“The goal is that [the building] is down within the next 5 weeks. We will be able to begin construction as early as this summer. We are definitely going to be opening up in the fall of 2028,” said Rush.
