Top 10 – #2 St. Cloud State Closes Down Sherburne Residence Hall

ST. CLOUD -- We continue our countdown of the Top 10 local news stories of the year with our number two story - the closing of Sherburne Residence Hall.

Back in February, St. Cloud State University announced they would be shutting down the long-time dorm at the end of the spring semester.

Sherburne Hall was built in the 1960s and held as many as 550 students, but according to Residential Life Executive Director Jennifer Sell Matzke, it had not been at full capacity for quite some time.

We have had multiple communities that have not been operating at full capacity on campus, so taking Sherburne Hall offline as we plan to do at the end of this semester will allow us to provide a more robust community experience for students living on campus and then also allow us to reduce our operating costs by consolidating residents into our other residence halls.

Students who had already signed up to live in the dorm this fall were allowed to cancel their housing contracts at no charge, or select a room in a different residence hall.

The university’s Student Life and Development Office says, as of December, they do not have any new plans for the use of the building and are instead focusing on keeping everyone safe during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.