Breaking: Cal State LA launching a project to replace King Hall
Cal State LA announces plans to rebuild King Hall, a building that opened in 1962.
Cal State LA announced that it has launched a project to replace King Hall, one of the largest and busiest buildings on campus.
According to the King Hall Replacement Project website, it will “result in a new building that will house classrooms and lecture halls, student-centered spaces, faculty and department offices, and food services. The new building will serve as a model for the use of space on campus as the University advances into the future.”
Kevin Cardoso, a biology major supports this new development. Cardoso first started at Cal State LA in 2014.
“The issues students are having now are nothing new. I never took the elevator during my time there because it would always stop working and there were times people actually got stuck,” Cardoso said. “I know most of my friends will be impacted if this building is gone. If getting classes are hard to get, imagine how difficult it’s going to be now. There’s not going to be enough classrooms to serve the needs of the students.”
At this time, it is unclear what the exact plans are for classes and what exact changes are to be made to King Hall. The university announcement is one of the first on this matter and doesn’t address the fears Cardoso has.
Computer science major Manuel Sanchez is also in favor of the change.
“I have not gone to King Hall in a long while, like a semester or two,” Sanchez said. “I didn’t really like it only because it was confusing with the different lettering section and the rooms looked sad and depressing, kind of like a rundown high school. I think the idea to replace it is great.”
Biology major Enrique Surio, who used to have all of his core classes in King Hall, doesn’t really utilize the building anymore.
“I really like the building and the lecture halls that we have,” Surio said. “I think it is a great idea to fully renew the building with state-of-the-art technology, a more modern interface where people could study or just hang around before going to class, more classroom accessibility for students with disabilities and definitely working elevators. I think this replacement project has been long overdue for the amazing Cal State LA student body that takes classes at King Hall every day.”
“The King Hall Replacement project is working with the campus community and SmithGroup to develop a Needs Assessment,” the university told the UT. “The Needs Assessment will identify an understanding of the current conditions and desired conditions and measure the discrepancy to determine the needs. The resulting study and campus input will inform the building program that identifies the spaces, site, and amenities proposed for our new King Hall Replacement project.”
There is going to be no impact to classroom space or use of the existing King Hall building in the proposed project, according to the university.
The university also said that the proposed project is to construct a new building. This will be done prior to any relocation of the existing King Hall.
This story was updated May 2, 2022.
Jessica is a second year, studying mathematics and creative writing. She is returning as an intern reporter for the University Times and is a staff writer...
Fatima Rosales is majoring in Graphic Design and Visual Communications. She works for the University Times as Production Manager, designing the newspaper,...
Sterling Cross • May 16, 2022 at 6:57 am
In my honest opinion, King Hall was the most beautiful building on campus when it had escalators and was very airy with high ceilings. The escalators allowed a person on the bottom floor to look up to the top floor. It was beautiful.
When the escalators were replaced with elevators and the open area was filled in to create more classrooms, the ceilings were built very low. I couldn’t help, but feel a sense of suffocation. It became a labyrinth from a bad science fiction movie. King Hall was forever ruined and gone…and I was glad I didn’t have to endure this awful experience and experienced King Hall when it was spacious with that very high ceiling that one could ser from the bottom floor.