November 15, 2016

Ms. Faynese Miller

President of Hamline University
1536 Hewitt Ave
St. Paul, MN, 55104

Dear President Faynese Miller,

I would like to thank you and Hamline University for letting me conduct research on the
feasibility of purchasing the Midway Motel, demolishing it, and then building new dormitories on where
the motel used to stand. I wanted to pursue the feasibility of buying the motel and building new
dormitories because I lived in the dormitories on campus for two years and I really wasnt very impressed
by them. I think that if Hamline were to improve the dormitories it would positively affect peoples
experience on the campus, as well as peoples opinion of Hamline.
The feasibility project involved a lot of research on the Midway Motel, as well as dormitories and
their impact both financially on universities, and academically on students. In addition to doing research
on financial impacts and academic impacts, I conducted a survey that asked questions about students
opinions of the Midway Motel, as well as the dormitories. I found that seventy five percent of people
surveyed thought that the Heights dormitories, (Peterson, Schilling, Osborne dormitories), were not good
places to live on campus. However 65.6% of people surveyed said that they would not pay more money
to have better dormitories on campus. It does not help that according to the Hamline University of
Minnesota Financial Statements (2015); in 2015 Hamline had more expenses than revenues. Based on this
information I would give the recommendation to not buy the motel and build the new dormitories because
Hamline may not be able to afford to.
Sincerely,
Luke Lindquist

Enclosure

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

Purchasing the Midway Motel and Building New Dormitories: A Feasibility Study
Luke Lindquist
Hamline University

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

Abstract
This paper examines the feasibility of Hamline University purchasing the Midway Motel,
demolishing the motel, and building new dormitories on where the motel used to stand.
Research includes the financial impact on Hamline University if the university were to carry out
this project, the academic impact of dormitories on students, the Midway Motel, and a survey of
students that attend Hamline University. This study found that it is not feasible to go through
with buying the Midway Motel and building new dormitories on the property. This is due to the
lack of financial support students would be willing to give the university as well as Hamline not
having the budget to be able to carry out this operation. This paper recommends to not attempt
the project at this time because of the lack of money to do so.

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

Table of contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Methods........................................................................................................................................... 6
Results ............................................................................................................................................. 7
First criteria question ................................................................................................................... 7
Second criteria question .............................................................................................................. 8
Third criteria question ................................................................................................................. 8
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 9
References ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

Introduction
Hamline University has dormitories that are not very popular in the student population.
According to an in class survey I gave to students at Hamline University, seventy five percent of
them do not think that the dormitories at Hamline are a good place to live. Most students prefer
living off campus instead of living in the dormitories on campus. If Hamline could improve the
dormitories then students would have a much better experience in the dormitories and maybe
more would choose to continue to live on campus rather than move off campus. To find the
space to do this, Hamline could purchase the Midway Motel across Snelling Avenue, demolish
the motel, and build the new dormitory complexes where the motel had once stood. If Hamline
could accomplish a project like this students opinions of Hamline would increase, and students
would give a better review of going to Hamline University.
The Midway Motel is a cheap motel that sits across from Hamline University on Snelling
Avenue. The motel is a place in which drugs are sold and violence occurs. The latest example
of this occurred in March of 2016 when two men were shot and killed at the motel over what was
said to be drug debt (Sawyer, Libor, 2016). The violence and crime at this motel is an issue
especially because of how close Hamline University is to the motel.
The dormitories at Hamline are subpar and not a popular place to live on campus. The
three buildings known as Osborne, Schilling, and Peterson, (also known as the Heights), contain
dorm rooms that are considered too small and bathrooms that are not big enough to
accommodate for an entire floor of people. A survey of Hamline students showed results of
seventy five percent of people surveyed having the opinion that the Heights dormitories are not a
good place to live on the Hamline campus.
According to (How to Determine Building Demolition Cost, 2016) It costs around two to
three dollars per square foot in order to demolish a building. The cost of purchasing the motel,

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

plus the cost of demolishing it and putting up a dormitory complex would be rather expensive.
According to Hamline University of Minnesota Financial Statements (2015), Hamline recorded
total revenue of $86,355,145 in 2015; however they also recorded $87,868,752 of expenses in
the same year. The dormitory operation would also make the university more money because the
new dorms would bring in more undergraduate students and keep more students living on
campus.
My research relates to the problem because all of my research is on either the costs of
building new dormitories, academic affects of dormitories on students, Hamline Universities
financial situation, and the Midway Motel. All of these aspects can be used to determine
whether or not it is feasible for Hamline to carry out an operation like the one being talked about
in this report. In the following sections I will discuss the methods used in this report, the results
of the research, I will conclude the report, and finally I will make recommendations based on my
research.

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

Methods
In order to answer the question of whether or not it is feasible for Hamline University to
purchase the Midway Motel, demolish the motel, and build dormitories on the property, I
completed research on the Midway Motel, the cost to Hamline to build new dormitories, the
academic affects dormitories have on students, and Hamlines financial situation.
I wanted to complete research on these topics because I figured it would be the best way
to answer the feasibility question. The question mainly focuses on the Midway Motel, building
new dormitories, and Hamline University so I wanted to do as much research on topics that
would help me connect all three parts of the research question.
In order to do this I used Google Scholar, the Academic Search Premier Search engine,
and I even used regular Google searches in order to find information on aspects like the costs of
demolish a building. The main key words that I used in order to do my research were Hamline
University, Midway Motel, Dormitory Costs, Grade Point Average, Saint Paul,
Financial Statements, and Demolishing Costs.
The final piece of my research was a survey that I created and gave to Hamline Students
also taking English 1800. The survey had eleven questions on the Midway Motel, and aspects of
the dormitories at Hamline University. The questions I asked about the Midway Motel involved
peoples opinions of the motel and whether or not it would be a good idea for Hamline to
purchase the motel. The questions I asked about Hamlines dormitories involved whether or not
they were a good place to live on campus, and how much more money people would be willing
to pay per year in order to have better dormitories on campus.

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

Results
This report is investigating whether or not it is feasible for Hamline University to
purchase the Midway Motel, demolish it, and build new dormitories on the property. In order to
do this research I used three criteria questions that would help answer whether it was feasible for
Hamline University to purchase the Midway Motel, demolish it, and build new dormitories in its
place.
The first question is whether or not it is financially feasible for Hamline to be able to
purchase the motel, demolish it, and turn it into new dormitories? The second question is, are
there enough students at Hamline that are unhappy with the living conditions in the dormitories
to warrant building new dormitories? The final criteria question is, would the new dormitories
affect academic success either negatively or positively?
First criteria question
The first criteria question was whether or not it is financially feasible for Hamline
University to purchase the Midway Motel, demolish it, and build a new dormitory where the
motel used to be? I researched information on how much it would cost to demolish a building by
square foot. I found that it would cost two to three dollars per foot in order to demolish the
motel (How to Determine Building Demolition Cost, 2016). I also found some of Hamlines
financial statements on a pdf file online. According to the Hamline University of Minnesota
Financial Statements (2015), in 2015 Hamline had total revenues of $86,355,145 and total
expenses of $87,868,752. What these figures mean is that Hamline had more expenses than total
revenue in 2015 meaning that there isnt a surplus of money that Hamline could use toward this
project. One more aspect that I found interesting from my survey was that only 65.6% of the
students that were surveyed would not pay more money per year to attend Hamline University in

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

order to build new dormitories. This means that most students would not financially support the
building of new dormitories.
Second criteria question
The second criteria question was, are there enough students at Hamline that are unhappy
with the living conditions in the dormitories to warrant building new dormitories? I mostly
relied on my survey to answer this criteria question. My survey suggested that most students
were unhappy with the living conditions of the dormitories. Seventy five percent of the students
that answered the Heights dormitories were not a good place to live on campus. Based on the
results from the survey most people were unhappy with the cost to live on campus, and the size
of the rooms were said to be too small. 62.5% of the people that responded to the survey
answered yes to the question, Would building new dormitories on the Hamline campus be a
wise investment for Hamline?
Third criteria question
The final criteria question was, whether or not the new dormitories would affect
academic success either positively or negatively? . One article stated that GPA decreased
dramatically when students were put into what would be considered an overcrowded dorm room,
in this case three people in a two person dorm. (Eshaghi, A., & Khozaei, F) Based on the
information from the survey from a question in which people stated what they didnt like about
living on campus, many people stated that the dormitories were too small. Students feel crowded
in their rooms meaning that their Grade Point Averages may be decreasing affecting students
academic success negatively. Another article stated that and one of the main aspects of Quality
of College Life is the satisfaction with facilities and services. (Sirgy, J. M., Grzeskowiak, S., &

Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

Rahtz, D, pg .346) Based on information from the second criteria question most students are not
satisfied with the dormitories at Hamline negatively affecting the quality of their college lives.
Conclusion
Based on the data from my research I can conclude that it is not feasible for Hamline
University to purchase the Midway Motel, demolish the motel, and build new dormitories in the
motels place. This is due to the fact that most students would like to see new dormitories on the
Hamline campus but most students are financially unwilling to contribute towards the doing so.
Also Hamline does not have the financial means currently to support an operation like the one in
this report. Because of this it is currently not feasible to pull off purchasing the Midway Motel,
and building new dormitories in its place.
Recommendations
Based on my data and conclusions I would recommend at the moment not going through
with the project. I would also recommend saving feasible amounts of money each year in order
to one day update the dormitories due the majority unhappiness with the living conditions on
campus that students expressed in the survey given in this report. I would recommend doing
future research on how much money it is feasible for Hamline to save each year in order to
update the dormitories. I would finally also recommend doing an interview with the owners of
the Midway Motel to find out if they would be willing to sell the property, and how much they
would be willing to sell the property for in case the university wanted to investigate the
feasibility of this project in the future when it was financially feasible.

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Running head: PURCHASING THE MIDWAY MOTEL

References
C. (2015, September 25). Hamline University of Minnesota Financial Statements Years Ended
June 30, 2015 and 2014 [PDF]. Minneapolis MN.

Eshaghi, A., & Khozaei, F. (2016). In the Eyes of the Beholder: Students' Degree of Satisfaction
with Traditional versus Suite Style Residence Halls. Research Gate.

How to Determine Building Demolition Cost, Retrieved 2016, from

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/determine-building-demolition-costs-15447.html

Sawyer, L; Libor, J.(2016, March 25) 2 more arrests made in fatal motel shootings: A robbery
charge was also filed in alleged drug deal disagreement. Star Tribune (Minneapolis,
MN). Retrieved 2016, from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1775741801?accountid=28109

Sirgy, J. M., Grzeskowiak, S., & Rahtz, D. (2006, July 01). Quality of College Life (QCL) of
Students: Developing and Validating a Measure of Well-Being. Social Indicators
Research.