Western New Mexico University Planning for Demolition Work and New Campus Commons Project

As part of a larger campus-wide master plan, officials with the Silver City-based Western New Mexico University are making plans for the demolition of the aging Regents Row residence halls.

At the same time, the school, with an enrollment of around 3,500 students, wants to launch what is being called the Harlan Hall/Fleming Hall Commons project which will include, among other features, a teaching and demonstration amphitheater for natural science lectures.

That project, to take place on the southeast side of the campus between the existing Harlan and Fleming Halls, will also include landscaping and the upgrading of crosswalks and walkways, as well as new lighting.

The effort is dependent upon the statewide passage in the November election of General Obligation Bond C, which will  make available $159 million in funding for university, college, and tribal educational facility projects across New Mexico.

More specifically, the bond will provide some $4 million in backing for the WNMU projects on the school’s 80-acre campus.
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According to school officials, the long-planned Harlan Hall/Fleming Hall Commons project will ultimately create spaces for botany and geology students in a real-world learning environment.

​By Garry Boulard

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