The University of Cincinnati is Ohio’s second largest public university, and its student population is only growing. After its campus housing crisis last year, UC renovated and reopened Siddall Hall in hopes of addressing the shortage.
Siddall Hall was originally opened in 1964 as a women’s residence hall and named for Helen Walker Siddall. The Cincinnati native and Hughes High School graduate received a bachelor of science in education from UC in 1922.
The $85-million upgrade includes new mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructures as well as interior and exterior framing, elevators and finishes. The hall will offer 500 beds across 12 floors as well as a 5,000-square foot fitness space, common laundry, common kitchenette and lounge space.
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According to Assistant Vice President of Housing Carl Dieso, Siddall’s renovation is just one part of UC’s campus-wide development initiative.
“We're finishing up that last part of our master plan, which were these renovations,” Dieso said. “We've got construction down the street started on our next residential facility. Blocks one and two received initial funding from our Board of Trustees this year.”
These developments come on the heels of last year’s housing crisis. During the 2023-2024 school year, UC had more students requesting on-campus housing than it had beds. As a result, it partnered with private landlords near campus to provide housing for students who wanted to live on campus, but couldn't get into a dormitory due to a lack of space.
Some of the students even lived in temporary housing or nearby hotels. Dieso says the university has reviewed its housing process and has made necessary adjustments to ease the situation moving forward.
“This building, adding that capacity, gets us back to where we knew we needed to be,” Dieso said. “We were able to get everybody assigned by mid-July, which is really our target and our desire.”
While the housing shortage is not entirely resolved, it has certainly decreased for students arriving on campus in just two weeks.
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“We reduced the number of people that were in a pending status after our first round of assignments. It was 600 last year. We only had 100 in that condition in mid-July,” Dieso said. “We continue to see that improvement and move things forward.”
Dieso said he is excited with the direction the university is taking and encourages feedback from students as their body continues to grow. UC will host a ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Siddall Hall Friday at 10 a.m.
