ORANGE CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Northwestern College broke ground announcing the construction of its three-story suite-style dorms for women.

The 45,000-square-foot facility, which will house 157 women, is expected to cost roughly $14 million. Each floor of the dorm will have two wings with two dorm rooms on each side and a large gathering area in the center.

The residence hall will also have a common space on each floor for students to socialize and get out of their dorm rooms.

Northwestern College President Greg Christy said with recruitment numbers continuing to increase the college plans to continue the use of the older residency for another year.

“We can’t do without the facility that we have now, so this building will be constructed now and be ready by the summer of 2024,” said Christy. “So we’ll keep Colter Brenner hall online until then, and then when we move into this new facility we’ll take Colter Crenner down after we’ve moved into this new residence hall.”

Construction is expected to start the first week of May and possibly be completed by July 2024.