LTVN’s Claire Marie Scott has more on the renovations.
By Josh Siatkowski | Lead Writer, Claire Marie Scott | LTVN Executive Producer
With the $32 million renovation of Kokernot Hall finished, Baylor’s multi-year plan to refurbish 10 of its residence halls is complete.
In July, residents began moving into the newly renovated, nearly 80-year-old Kokernot Hall, which houses about 160 freshman women per year. From new bathrooms and common spaces to sidewalks and landscaping, the entire lot on the southwest corner of campus has been refreshed. “Kokernot was our most comprehensive renovation,” construction project manager Nichole Bekken, who has led the renovations of five residence halls in the last three years, said. “We basically went sidewalk to sidewalk … not just interior but exterior as well.” Outside, the construction team installed a new roof, revamped outdoor community spaces and repaved the sidewalks leading up to the hall.
Upon entering the building, the lobby has been revitalized with more natural light, as well as a new front desk and seating areas. The basement, which residents previously said was dark and had a low ceiling, has also been completely refreshed with a new kitchen, reflection and prayer room and laundry area. Additionally, the classroom that was previously in the building has been replaced with a seminar room.
Importantly for residents, the bathrooms have also been updated. Originally containing communal bathrooms, the hall now includes a pod-style arrangement similar to Collins Residence Hall, where each floor contains a number of private rooms with toilets, showers and sinks.
While most of the hall has been completely changed, the construction team chose to keep some historic elements, like the ornamental metal staircase railings. “We have actually worked very closely with the city of Waco to allow us to keep some of these existing things, even though they are no longer code compliant,” Bekken said of the railings. Kokernot Hall was built in 1947 and named after Texas ranch owner Herbert Lee Kokernot. As the last dorm on campus to be renovated, its residents have given it a loving nickname in recent years. “I loved it here, even though everybody called it ‘Krusty Koko,’” Alvin junior Grace Sutton said. “She was a little crusty, but the community was so nice because it was small.” Sutton lived in Kokernot the year before its renovation and returned as the Community Leader Mentor this year. She said the facelift flipped the stigma around Kokernot from the last-picked dorm to a class favorite. “It’s so interesting to see the dynamic change from when I lived here, because when I did, nobody wanted to live here,” she said. “Now it seems like this will be like a space on campus where a lot of freshmen will hang out.” Tiffany Lowe, Senior Director of Campus Learning and Living, said that the university has seen strong positive reviews supporting Sutton’s optimism. “We’ve had excellent, excellent feedback on a national benchmarking survey as far as what the students really enjoy about living in community and the facilities,” Lowe said.
She also said that Kokernot was “one of the first [dorms] to fill” after it had been one of the last in recent years. After the renovation, Kokernot’s capacity and price have also changed. The total bed count has decreased from about 180 to roughly 160, Bekken said. The price for a double room has increased from $3,850 per semester in 2024 to $4,720 per semester in 2026. The few single rooms in the hall have remained constant at around $5,900 per semester. The project is the final one for the 13-year plan to restore 10 residence halls across campus. Since 2013, the university has renovated North and South Russell, Penland, Martin, Collins, Memorial, Alexander, Dawson, Allen and Kokernot Halls, all of which were built before 1960. The reported cumulative cost of each project is roughly $200 million.
As the plan comes to a close, Lowe said the Campus Living and Learning team would pause before undertaking another major project. “We’re ready to take a pause so that we can just take a step back,” Lowe said. “We need to take a look at what the growth of the institution looks like, and then see what the housing needs are, and try to match those as appropriately as we can.” For construction, Bekken said that the team would shift toward overall campus improvements, but no major string of projects has been announced.
