In March 2014, the RAs of Targhee Hall called all residents to a mandatory meeting that did not fall on the regularly-scheduled Monday evening.
Jonathan Madrid, then a University of Idaho freshman who served as the president of Targhee, said he and fellow residents were confused by the impromptu meeting. At the time, all they knew was there was an announcement to be made.
“We just kind of all gathered in the common area and I believe someone from the vice president”s office was there,” Madrid said. “They gave us the notification that due to the construction of the College of Education, they were going to be taking over Targhee and shutting it down as a residence hall.”
Corey Ray, associate director of housing and residence life, said Targhee was temporarily converted into office spaces to accommodate for the displacement of the College of Education faculty as their building underwent construction.
Madrid, now a senior studying applied music, said the news came as a surprise to many of Targhee”s residents, especially those who had signed up to live in the hall for the next academic year.
“Some people had already committed to living in Targhee next year, but there were a lot of us still trying to figure out what we wanted to do,” Madrid said. “Targhee was still an option for us, so as soon as they notified us of this change we were all kind of scrambling.”
The day the residence hall closed and the students moved out, Ray said all housing supplies, such as beds, desks and drawers, were moved into storage facilities to make room for the College of Education”s equipment.
“We had the capacity to take those students that normally live in Targhee into Wallace and other areas,” Ray said. “It was determined that the best solution for the university was to take Targhee offline.”
Beyond the short notice, Madrid said he and fellow residents were concerned about the nature of the university”s notification.
“The way they went about it felt, to a lot of the residents, really sneaky,” Madrid said. “We were really confused, we wanted to figure out a way to make sure if they were going to close it for two years they were going to honor it.”
During the meeting, Madrid said residents were told the building would reopen as a residence hall after two years. He said the representative told them that temporarily closing the hall was an opportunity for the university to consider remodeling the building.
“To my knowledge, none of that has happened and I don”t think it”s going to happen,” Madrid said. “At the time, a lot of us were in the mindset that Targhee wasn”t going to be a residence hall anymore because we had heard rumors of other buildings that had similar things happen to them and they”re still offices.”
As the two-year mark approaches, the future of the building remains unclear.
Ray said as of now, housing has not been notified about whether the building will be converted back into a living facility.
“It may come back to us, that is a possibility, but we haven”t heard anything,” Ray said. “Again, I wouldn”t expect to hear anything until we get closer to the deadline.”
Targhee became the residence hall for fine arts students in the early 2000″s and primarily housed music, art and theatre majors.
“Targhee provided a unique experience for us because unlike other residence options, it was tailored to the fine arts type of person,” Madrid said. “Having that in mind, we basically established a really tight community where we all were basically a family.”
Once a year, Ray said Targhee hosted a coffee house-themed program in which residents were served coffee and could perform music or read poetry.
In addition to housing-sponsored programs, Madrid said Targhee was equipped with kitchens and refrigerators. Rather than eating at Bob”s, the residents cooked meals together and often held potluck dinners.
“We could cook our own meals, so what we ended up doing was we would have potluck dinners every once in a while,” Madrid said. “It was a constant environment where we had the support of everyone and it was really cool.”
Madrid said the hall, which was located close to the music building, not only provided residents with a sense of community, but also was fondly remembered by arts majors who had lived there their freshman years. Targhee”s reputation was so prominent among fine arts majors that Madrid said he”s met first year students this year who have heard stories about the hall.
“For a lot of the music students, it was this legacy that built upon itself, and I”m really sad to see it disappear,” Madrid said. “I know I”ve talked to a lot of freshman this year and they”ve heard about Targhee too, even though it”s been closed for two years now. It”s had this lasting impact and I really wish they could experience it.”
While the future of the building has yet to be disclosed to housing, Madrid said he hopes the university will bring the residence hall back. He said unlike Wallace or the Tower, Targhee Hall provided students with the opportunity to surround themselves with others in similar majors.
“You really get to choose the people you”re living with, and for a lot of students that”s kind of like a safety net,” Madrid said. “Everyone is uncomfortable and scared to start the next phase of their life but having that comfort and knowing you”re going to be in a community that you really want to be a part of and that has this legacy of being supportive and tight – it just makes a difference.”
Corrin Bond can be reach at [email protected] or on Twitter @CorrBond