See inside UK’s largest classroom building before $75 million renovation begins
The University of Kentucky is preparing to start renovations on its largest classroom building, White Hall, this summer.
Originally opened in 1969 and centrally located on campus, White Hall is home to approximately 50 classrooms, laboratories and the campus post office. The $75 million renovation is scheduled to be completed by the fall 2026 semester, and will turn the building from one that “has a very 1970s look” into a modern, bright learning space, said Mary Vosevich, vice president for facilities management and chief facilities officer of UK.
“The saying here at UK is if you went to school here, you had a class in White Hall sometime over the course of your educational career,” Vosevich said. “It’s our main classroom building.”
The three-story building is approximately 165,000 square feet, and updates will include new lecture halls that can hold between 100 and 290 students and smaller classrooms that can hold 36 to 48 students, said Angela Walton, the project manager for the renovations. Additionally, a new “micro-market” will be added on the first floor, giving students self-serve food and vending options, Walton said.
New collaboration spaces for UK students
Renovations also include new “collaboration spaces” with tables and chairs for students to use, something that has become popular in other new and renovated buildings on campus. One side of the building will feature collaboration spaces, designed to be used by groups of students for projects or class breakout groups. The other side of the building will have “focus spaces,” designed for students looking for a quiet place to study or work, Walton said.
The updated White Hall will have all new furnishings, with space for students to use. UK has already begun moving furniture out of the building to prepare for demolition later this summer.
“You walk into White Hall right now, and it’s pretty dark,” Vosevich said. “We’re doing away with that. We really want to make it a welcoming space that is conducive to the activities that are taking place in that building.”
White Hall renovations present challenges
But the renovations also present challenges. White Hall is the main classroom building on campus, meaning 50 classrooms will be unusable until fall 2026. Because of that, classes normally held in White Hall have moved to new locations across campus for upcoming semesters. In some instances, classes have had to change the time of day they’re offered to accommodate their new locations, Vosevich said.
Student services located in the building are also being relocated during the renovations. For example, the post office and Wildcat Wardrobe will move to the Patterson Office Tower.
Demolition and construction are expected to begin later this summer. While the main focus will be on updating the interior of the building, there will also be updates to the exterior and the HVAC systems. The bathrooms in White Hall were updated two years ago, so those will remain untouched.
“It’s right on the borderline of being (considered) historic, but we still want to preserve the integrity of that building,” Vosevich said.
White Hall has long been the largest classroom building on campus, but that will soon no longer be the case. When the Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building opens in 2026, it will be around 500,000 square feet. Located between campus and the UK hospitals, that building will be home to programs in four health colleges: medicine, public health, health sciences and nursing.
Photos of the inside of Kentucky’s White Hall
