The gap between campus and downtown will get smaller as both Western and Bowling Green complete building projects planned on the downtown side of the Hill.

A new building for the Gordon Ford College of Business, non-traditional student housing, a parking garage with stores around it and a five-story hotel are all planned for “block 12,” which is the area enclosed by and surrounding Kentucky and Center Streets and 13th Avenue.

The future business college was the first project planned in this area, said Bryan Russell, director of Planning, Design and Construction.

The location was recommended by EOP Architects, a building design company, after their firm completed a site selection study in December 2008, Russell said.

The design for the business college is done, he said. State legislators still have to approve the $49 million project, and that wouldn’t happen until at least April.

When Housing and Residence Life decided to build apartments for non-traditional students in February, they chose the area across the street from the future business college, HRL Director Brian Kuster said.

“There’s really no place else for campus to go,” Kuster said. “We’re not going to cross University Boulevard, so it makes more sense to go over the Hill.”

Demolition for the apartments is done, and Kuster said he hopes the design will be complete in December so construction can start in summer 2010 and finish by fall 2011.

Kuster estimates that the project will cost between $6 million and $7 million, but the amount won’t be finalized until the design is finished. It’s funded by the Student Life Foundation, a non-profit group that owns all the dorms.

Bowling Green’s development plans for block 12 will make the area a more attractive place for the apartments by bringing in parking and businesses and making it safer, Kuster said.

The Warren County Economic Development Authority, charged with downtown redevelopment, made the decision to build a parking structure in the area, said Mary Cohron, chairwoman of the WCEDA.

Originally, a parking structure was planned to be at Sixth and College Streets near the baseball stadium, but the city had trouble with financing for that area and finding businesses that wanted to move into the space wrapping around the structure, Cohron said.

“Because of the economy, it just wasn’t feasible to do that now,” she said.

But a hotel developer was interested in building a hotel in the Center Street area near campus and required that a parking structure be built next to it, Cohron said. So the WCEDA approached President Gary Ransdell about putting a parking structure in the area.

Ransdell approved of the idea and decided to put a Western bookstore and coffee shop in the space around the structure and an alumni center nearby, Cohron said.

The parking structure is still being designed, but it’s expected to cost between $5 million and $6 million, she said. The total cost of city’s block 12 projects is expected to be about $40 million.

Cohron said she hopes the groundbreaking for the parking structure will be at the beginning of next year.

Russell said there’s also talk of putting a police station in the area, and Kuster said there’s potential for expanding the Greek Village along Center Street, too.

Cohron said these projects will transform the area and make it more attractive for the community.

Students will find their dorms packed this year.

On-campus housing will be near capacity at 4,950 residents, said Brian Kuster, director of Housing and Residence Life. Increased demand for housing almost left 160 freshmen without beds on campus.

“We will probably open completely full,” Kuster said. “We may even have RAs with roommates.”

It’s common for dorms to be full, but overcrowding usually sorts itself out in the first week because there are always about 50 people who don’t show up, he said.

Demand for housing increased among juniors, seniors and graduate students, who are not required to live on campus. Western also retained more sophomores, who traditionally must live on campus said Howard Bailey, vice president for student affairs.

Kuster said the increased demand isn’t surprising because the demand has been growing for three to four years.

Officials are considering new housing options, such as apartments that would house living-learning communities for upperclassmen and families to alleviate some of the increased demand, Bailey said.

“We’re aware that not all students want traditional housing,” Bailey said.

Western recently acquired property on Kentucky Street that HRL wants to use for these apartments, Kuster said.

To fix the immediate problem of overcrowding this year, HRL sent an e-mail in June to juniors and seniors signed up for on-campus housing that said they could cancel their housing without a penalty, Kuster said.

About 60 to 70 juniors and seniors canceled their housing, Kuster said.

That still left HRL 100 beds short, so in late July, officials sent some sophomores e-mails that said they could also cancel their housing without penalty, he said.

To be eligible, sophomores had to have lived on campus for at least two semesters and have at least 20 hours completed, Kuster said.

Within a week, 100 sophomores had responded and canceled their housing, Kuster said.

There have been other years when some sophomores were allowed to cancel their housing because of overcrowding, he said.

Sophomores are usually required to live on campus, and that requirement won’t be changing, President Gary Ransdell said.

“We had to be a little bit flexible to get all incoming freshmen beds,” Ransdell said. “We relaxed some policies, not eliminated them.”

But Kuster said officials could re-evaluate that policy in the future.

If they do, it’s likely that only sophomores with a certain GPA could get out of the housing requirement, he said.

For now, next year’s sophomores should plan on having to live on campus, Kuster said.

The Hill is home to more students this semester than ever before, with the total fall enrollment expected to exceed 20,000 students.

Western continues to grow faster than any other university in the state, thanks to an increase of the number of new students and retention of existing students, Provost Barbara Burch said.

In comparison to this time last year, enrollment is up more than 1,200 students, with an increase of more than 950 undergraduate students and 300 graduate students, said Dean Kahler, associate vice president for enrollment.

Final enrollment for fall 2008 was 19,761 students, he said.

Intentional planning triggered the growth in enrollment, said Richard Bowker, vice president for research and dean of graduate studies.

“Student engagement is pervasive across the university,” he said. “The quality of experience in every department is increasing.”

Officials continue making changes throughout campus to accommodate the increasing student population.

Housing and Residence Life relaxed policies this semester after more students applied for campus housing than in previous years, HRL Director Brian Kuster said. The relaxed policies allowed some senior, junior and sophomore students in good academic standing to opt out of their housing contracts, opening up more beds for incoming freshmen.

“It will be tight this year, but that’s a good problem to have,” Kuster said.

Officials continue discussing plans for future campus housing, he said.

As for non-housing expansion, officials will continue constructing, renovating and expanding several buildings on campus this year.

The prospect of increased enrollment spurred several projects, including Snell Hall, an expansion of the Preston Center and additions to both Houchens-Smith Stadium and campus dining venues, said Bryan Russell, director of Planning, Design and Construction.

Parking and Transportation expanded the Adams Street, Pearce-Ford and Normal lots, adding more than 250 parking spots, Parking Services Director Jennifer Tougas said.

The department is installing more bike racks throughout campus and plans to create more bike paths in addition to offering students discounted fares for the Go BG transit bus.

“A lot of the preparation we’re doing for student growth is finding alternative transportation,” Tougas said. “We are running out of parking real estate.”

Officials will release preliminary enrollment numbers for all public universities in Kentucky on Sept. 28.