In order to account for the growing student population, The University of Alabama opened its new class building, North Lawn Hall, to students on the first day of the fall semester, Aug.1. Located on Hackberry Lane, the new facility houses 12 classrooms and one auditorium. Unlike other buildings on campus, North Lawn’s auditorium include table-top seats with convenient plug-ins and theater-style house doors that open and close automatically at class change times.

“We added North Lawn for multiple reasons; first and foremost it was to add additional classroom capacity on campus that would also accommodate larger sections,” said Tim Leopard, associate vice president for Construction Administration. “Also, it was an opportunity for us to upgrade the technology and provide classroom space so that we could then go back and renovate other existing classrooms to keep that inventory current.”

The addition of North Lawn Hall will help accommodate the university’s total enrollment, which reached a record high of 37,100 students last year. Leopard said North Lawn Hall will be used primarily for general education classes serving underclassmen sections, but larger upperclassmen classes will be taught there as well.

Despite its proximity to Riverside, Lakeside and Presidential dorms, Leopard said there is a perception that North Lawn is far for students living on the south side of campus. Given that it is only a five minute walk from the quad and a ten minute walk from the majority of campus, he said it was not specifically built to accommodate the students living on north campus.

Leopard said he does not foresee North Lawn’s location becoming an issue for students living off campus because of the location of a Crimson Ride stop next to the building. North Lawn, as well as campus’ other new additions, has been fully integrated into the busing systems’ regular routes.

The building is 83,000 square feet with 1,919 seats total. The design includes large corridors, an outdoor balcony with seating and an auditorium. Additionally, North Lawn Hall features a tornado storm shelter that can accommodate 2,124 people, which Leopard said is a vital feature as it can protect all of the occupants in the building.