The Board of Regents approved the purchase of 513 Regents Ave. to be used as lodging for visiting scholars after meeting at 8:30 Saturday morning to discuss the purchase.

The number of beds for visiting scholars has dropped from 18 to seven because of houses removed during the construction on the College of Education building, President Gary Ransdell said at the meeting.

Four beds in the house on Regents Avenue will replace some of those lost, Ransdell said.

Western will buy the house, a three-bedroom stone bungalow, for $222,900. It is across the street from the planned site of the College of Education building.

Money for the house comes from the Academic Affairs carry-over budget.

Ransdell said the house will be used short term, but may not be used long term.

“It’s a nice house even if we don’t use it,” Ransdell told board members, adding Western could sell the house if it isn’t used.

Ransdell told board members he has no plans to raze the house or expand campus beyond Mimosa Alley.

Western officials announced the special meeting at Ransdell’s house earlier this week.

The early meeting and approval allows time for renovations, so that the house can be used next semester, said Bob Edwards, vice president of university relations.

Provost Barbara Burch agreed the property was a good buy.

“It’s a really nice house for scholars,” she said. “And a good price for that area.”

In the meeting, Ransdell also told the board that Western had approached the owner of the Registry, an apartment complex on Old Morgantown Road, about Western possibly leasing the front building of the complex.

It could also be used for visiting scholars, and anyone displaced when Tate Page Hall is taken down who doesn’t move in the new building, Ransdell said.

After the meeting, the regents headed to Diddle Arena for commencement.