With the recent growth at Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College, the Kansas City campus is renovating and expanding its undergraduate dormitory.
The new residential building will include additional space and updated amenities for undergraduate students. Spurgeon College anticipates the dormitory renovations to be completed prior to the fall of 2023. Students housed in the dormitory during the fall of 2022 will move to the new, renovated rooms in the spring of 2023.
Over the past 10 years, Midwestern Seminary’s campus has undergone a wide range of renovations.
In 2013, Midwestern Seminary completed the chapel complex. Two years later, the Spurgeon Library opened, in addition to further renovations on the administration building.
In 2018, Midwestern Seminary completed construction on the Trustee Building and the Mathena Student Center. The Trustee Building renovations included updates to the classrooms, faculty offices, and student services area. The Mathena Student Center provided new amenities for residential students, including a cafeteria, a full gymnasium, a coffee shop, and more.
Last year, Midwestern Seminary opened the Mark T. Coppenger Library, which also included several new offices for faculty members.
The current dormitory renovations are in line with the overall vision of providing a vibrant on-campus experience for residential students to study for the church.
James Kragenbring, senior vice president for Institutional Administration at Midwestern Seminary, said of the recent updates, “Since Dr. Allen’s arrival as president in 2012, the main campus of Midwestern Seminary has been transformed through updates and completed building projects. The renovation of the dorm represents the last portion of the central campus to be renovated.”
“The existing dormitory of 25,743 square feet, originally constructed in 1963, will have new sleeping rooms on the first floor- expanding the occupancy of the building by 38%,” Kragenbring said. “The renovation includes a complete modernization of the building’s interior and exterior.”
He also noted, “The dorm is designed to facilitate community while protecting student safety. Moreover, the dorm’s layout is flexible and intended to accommodate future growth and development of our college. We have designed the upper floors to be separated by gender, while the basement offers separate spaces that can be reallocated as our needs change.”
Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College is committed to providing safe environments for students to connect with their peers and foster community and discipleship. Safe housing remains a top priority for all students, as highlighted by the new dormitory layout.
In addition to the expanded capacity the dormitory will provide, students will also enjoy several updated amenities not previously available in the undergraduate dormitory.
“As part of the complete interior renovation, students will enjoy new furniture throughout the building,” Kragenbring stated. “Major upgrades of the dormitory will also include kitchenets and study spaces on each floor, a sizeable basement common space, and exterior modifications.”
In light of the updated dormitory, several Spurgeon College students are excited to move in and enjoy the new space.
Alex M., a Spurgeon College student living in the dormitory this fall, said, “I love living on-campus because of the community it provides. You are surrounded with a community of believers who have the same passion to live for Christ and make Him known.”
He also said, “New students should seriously consider living in the dormitory because they will be gifted with friends who want to help them live out the calling God has given them and build lifelong friendships. I am grateful that God put me in the dorms my first year at Spurgeon College and I can’t wait to see what He has planned next semester.”
Mary O., another Spurgeon College student living in the dormitory, encouraged incoming students by saying, “If you are looking for a good way to jump into life at Spurgeon College, experience daily life alongside fellow believers, and have fun, I highly encourage you to consider living on-campus in the new dormitory.”
For further updates on the dormitory construction progress, please follow Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College on social media channels.
For those admitted to Spurgeon College and interested in applying for campus housing, visit https://www.mbts.edu/future-students/housing/
