Hamilton Walton Transformation featured in The Register-Guard
University of Oregon to demolish Hamilton Hall, launch final phases of housing project
By Hannarose McGuinness
May 12, 2025
University of Oregon students are approaching the end of the school year, when many of them will bid fond farewells to their friends, colleagues, mentors and for some, their former dormitory as Hamilton Hall is scheduled for demolition shortly after graduating Ducks collect their diplomas.
This planned demolition marks the start of phase three of the Hamilton Walton Transformation Project. Phase one included the construction of Unthank Hall. Phase two saw Walton Hall removed and replaced with two new student residencies — an apartment-style resident hall named Yasui Hall and one still unnamed building, both adding up to 800 bed spaces for students between both buildings. The first two project phases cost about $210 million to complete.
Phase three will see Hamilton Hall demolished and replaced with a green space that will stretch from the Erb Memorial Union to the Ford Alumni Center and Matthew Knight Arena and is expected to cost about $10 million. Hamilton Hall was first opened in 1962.
Eric Howald, assistant director of issues management for UO’s communications department, said the Transformation Project replaced Hamilton and Walton Halls with three residence halls. This replacement will add 400 to 800 bed spaces, depending on whether Flex Rooms are occupied at double- or quadruple-rates. In addition to these added bed spaces, the project has expanded dining venues and added a dedicated Student Welcome Center in Unthank Hall.
“The goals of the Hamilton and Walton Transformation project were to provide dynamic and attractive communities to help support student recruitment and retention: incoming first year students who live on campus in the UO’s high-quality, learning-centered residential communities have higher grades, retention and graduation rates, and graduate faster than students who live off campus,” Howald said.
“Living on campus at the UO facilitates diverse and inclusive communal engagement, contributes to students’
exploring purpose and meaning and facilitates students making long-term social connections.”
According to Howald, the Hamilton Hall demolition process is planned to begin shortly after graduation with a salvage operation. Following that will be hazardous materials abatement and finally, the structure is planned to be demolished in mid-late summer of 2025.
The demolition of Hamilton Hall isn’t the only project UO is taking on this summer. The Friendly Hall Deferred Maintenance and Renovation Project is expected to ramp up this summer, when restoration efforts for the campus’ third-oldest building will take place. Sitework is planned to begin this summer on the Next Generation Housing Building 1, which is part of a multi-phase project to add two more 800-bed residence halls as part of the university’s Next Generation Housing Development Plan. Additionally, several smaller infrastructure projects are slated to start this summer.
UO’s footprint continues to expand more visibly as the university pushes forward in developing lands it purchased in the East Campus area over sixty years ago for institutional use.