The historic Moore Building is being modernized with plans to become a new hub for student activity as soon as Spring 2025.
Atop the hill of upper campus situated behind Brown Hall, Moore has served many roles since its opening in 1924. While it originally served as a women’s residence hall, it later became a dining hall, a men’s residence hall, an infirmary and the home of health and human services until the building was vacated in 2011.
In 2020, WCU asked Jenkins Peer Architects (JPA) to provide plans for the refurbishment of the building. The main goals of the project were to make Moore an active learning environment, be adaptable in the future and honor the building’s history while still modernizing the space.

“It takes us away from the center of campus, which I don’t love, but we’ll bring life back to that part of campus.” says Dr. Annette Debo of the English Department.
The project was put on hold in 2022 due to escalating construction costs stemming from the pandemic, however the renovation has since resumed with federal funding.
The goal is to modernize the building by keeping the historic exterior and gutting the interior to create spaces for students to gather and learn. Faculty has been allowed to choose technology and furniture in the classrooms, making the Moore renovation a largely involved project. WCU hopes to make the renovation a project for all of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Despite the building’s age, professional analysis of the building shows that it’s in good structural condition. Unfortunately, the JPA report states that Moore’s windows, roof and the plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and fire protection (PME/FP) systems will need to be demolished and replaced. Beyond those improvements, only minor repairs will need to be done to the building.
The biggest undertakings for this project will be expanding the current parking lots, creating 70 new parking spaces, and clearing the building of harmful materials such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, mold and asbestos.
Once the building is refurbished, it will serve as a home to the Criminal Justice and English programs as well as Undergraduate Research, International Programs and Services and the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning.
The plan is to have small, medium and large sized classrooms for both academic departments in order to maintain typical class sizes. The original parlor will be turned into new lounges designed for students.
“These old buildings were not built for students to have room to gather,” Debo said, “We have really emphasized that in the renovation, so that there is a lot of student space.”
The renovation of the Moore building may start a domino effect on campus. Once the Criminal Justice and English vacate Belk and Coulter respectively, new departments will have new spaces and opportunities.