Notre Dame to demolish, rebuild two residence halls
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University of Notre Dame officials announced Wednesday that the university will demolish two on-campus residence halls and rebuild new student housing in their place.
The university will decommission two men’s residence halls, Pangborn and Fisher halls, at the end of the academic year to make way for new men’s and women’s dorms.
Both residence halls are located in Notre Dame’s South Quad. Their replacement comes as crews near completion of a new men’s residence hall on the university’s East Quad. This hall, first announced in June 2022, is expected to open in summer 2024.
Together, the three new residence halls will increase on-campus housing capacity by 445 beds, university officials said in a news release. The projects come as part of a multi-year effort to add beds on campus after university officials in 2017 announced a six-semester, campus residency requirement for undergraduate students.
“As we enter this next phase of residential life at Notre Dame, I look forward to continuing to ensure our residence halls meet our students’ needs and contribute to the formation and development of all students within the context of a supportive community,” Vice President for Student Affairs Rev. Gerry Olinger said. “While the most important aspect of our residence hall communities continues to be the people who reside within them, the buildings themselves remain integral to supporting our students’ ability to experience personal growth and form valuable connections among one another.”
University officials said the considered renovating Fisher and Pangborn halls but found the buildings, commissioned in 1952 and 1955, respectively, could not sustain the type of extensive renovations campus leaders were seeking.
The two new residence halls announced this week will be named after their benefactors, which university officials did not name in their news release. A spokeswoman for the university said she did not have information to share about the cost of the projects.
Men living in the current Pangborn Hall will move into the new East Quad building following its completion.
Fisher Hall residents will move into Zahm Hall — a “swing” facility used to provide temporary housing during projects on campus — until fall 2026. Once complete, the men will move into the new residence hall being built in the footprint of their former Fisher Hall home.
The building set to replace Pangborn will house a new women’s community.
The new residence halls, though different, will both match the style of Notre Dame’s campus architecture. The women’s hall will be 83,416 square feet with 275 beds, and the men’s hall will be 82,728 square feet with 258 beds. Both will feature study spaces, a chapel, basement storage, and space for fitness and laundry.
“At Notre Dame, residential life is an integral part of the undergraduate educational experience,” University President Rev. John Jenkins said. “Residence halls allow students to interact with an array of peers, learn from each other, build communities and form lifelong friendships. These new halls, with enhanced community space, will ensure that we are able to provide current and future students with an appropriate living environment in a place they call home.”
Completion is expected by fall 2026.