1. home and garden

NEWS
FEATURES
SPORTS
The Truman State
community mourns
loss of alumnus
Features Editor
explores parallel
worlds of fandom and
stardom
see page 7
Kirksville High
School hosts donkey
basketball fundraiser
see page 6
THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015
EXCELLENCE SINCE 1909
see page 11
THE UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT-PRODUCED NEWSPAPER
tmn.truman.edu
Above: four Grim Hall residents chat in one of the residence hall’s lounges. The University will close Grim
Hall at the end of the spring semester. Below: junior Sarah Medina relaxes in a Grim Hall lounge. A group of
current and former Grim Hall residents are working to prevent the residence hall from closing.
By HOlly FiSHER
Copy Editor
As the semester draws to a close, Residence Life has announced plans to discontinue use of one of its old haunts on
the Truman State campus — Grim Hall.
Shortly after on-campus housing registration began earlier this semester, students who signed up to live in Grim
Hall next year received an email informing them that the
arrangements elsewhere on campus.
John Gardner, Director of Residence Life, said Grim Hall
has had problems with its foundation and, during the last
year alone, approximately six rooms have been emptied of
students because of leaks coming through the building’s masonry and roof. He said issues with the gutters have caused
very icy conditions at the residence hall’s rear entrance.
Gardner said Grim Hall can house 66 students but only
about 38 spaces are available now because of all the maintenance concerns.
With room for so few students, Gardner said the University does not need the extra residence space Grim Hall offers.
He said the University still is trying to determine what will
happen to the building during the future. With the upcoming renovation of Baldwin Hall, Gardner said the faculty will
Athena Geldbach/Index
not needed, Gardner said it probably will be torn down. He
said if circumstances permit, he would like to restore Grim
Hall to a residence hall in the future.
was acquired by the University from the Grim-Smith Hospital during the summer of 1955. The building has become
well-known for its tight-knit community and urban legends.
“It’s always very sad when one of our communities goes
away, and for both Fair [Apartments] and Grim, we’ll miss
having those communities because they certainly provided
good service to our students over the years,” Gardner said.
“As with anything in life, sometimes you have to move on
and this is, I think, the decision we needed to make for the
best interest for the University and our students.”
was announced earlier during the semester, and Gardner
said the decision to close both buildings was driven by
concerns for the facilities and because neither building
offered the quality of living the University expected for
students on campus.
See GRiM, page 3
Athena Geldbach/Index
VOLUME 106
ISSUE 24
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