The on-campus residence at 100 Park St. may be demolished to make way for administrative buildings next year. Courtesy | Zillow

The on-campus house Park Place, which includes four apartments, could be demolished to make space for administrative facilities such as offices and storage and will not be available for student housing next year, according to Dean of Men Aaron Petersen.

“As the college has grown, these plans have progressed, and we realized that construction may be possible sooner rather than later, maybe as early as this summer,” Petersen said.

The college has known for many years that the location of Park Place at 100 Park St. was viable for such buildings, and Petersen said this was a factor in purchasing the properties in the first place.

Jonah Kirstein, a junior living in Park Place who was already signed up to live there next year, said he and his housemates received the news from Petersen in an email March 3.

“I was in class, and then our house group chat kind of started blowing up,” Kirstein said.

Augustine McCormack, a junior currently living in Park Place, said he was surprised by the news, especially since off-campus applications had closed Feb. 21.

“We were kind of scrambling, because everyone else on campus had already figured out where they’re going to be living for next year,” McCormack said. 

According to McCormack, after a meeting between the Park Place residents and Associate Dean of Men Jeffrey Rodgers, the rising seniors were given permission to live off-campus.

“We’re happy because the school has really worked with us, and they gave us support as rising seniors to help approve us real quick to get off campus,” Kirstein said.

According to Petersen, the timing of the Park Place decision worked out because the college was able to notify students before they locked in their 2025-26 housing decisions.

“The students who were planning on living there are currently working on other options,” Petersen said. 

Sophomore Jack Vultaggio, who planned to move to Park Place with five housemates, said the college’s decision, which they also learned about via email March 3, gave them only two weeks to find off-campus arrangements before housing applications open on March 17.

“We were all very disappointed,” Vultaggio said. “Park Place is a great house.”

Vultaggio said he hopes more off-campus permissions will be granted to juniors and sophomores who rely on places like Park Place as an alternative to moving off campus after their freshman year.

Kirstein said Park Place is his favorite place he has lived at Hillsdale because of its ability to host many people while still being a quiet and convenient location.

Kirstein said that his favorite events in Park Place were music nights and events involving cooking and serving food, due to the house’s big kitchen.

“It’s nice and secluded,” Kirstein said. “You don’t really get bothered by anyone on campus over here, so it’s probably as close as you can get to living off campus without actually living off campus.”