Kalapuya Ilihi Hall, a dormitory that has been closed since July 2023 due to structural issues and cracks throughout the walls, will now be closed until Fall 2025. The previous expected reopening date was Fall 2024. 
In an email statement to the Daily Emerald on Tuesday morning, UO spokesperson Angela Seydel told the Emerald that “the sequencing of repair work” would force the University to keep the hall closed for the 2024-2025 school year.
The previous prayer for damages in the University’s legal complaint against numerous companies involved in the construction of Kalapuya Ilihi totaled $7.5 million. Now, the prayer in the amended complaint stands at $10 million to cover additional construction costs. 
The legal complaint cited that “engineering defects and resulting property damage discovered at the Kalapuya [Ilihi] Residence Hall affect the building’s ability to perform as intended.” 
The University shared further concern in the legal complaint that Kalapuya Ilihi was “at risk during a significant seismic event if repairs are not designed, planned and constructed prior to further use of the building.” 
Seydel said that the Hamilton Hall demolition project, part of the Hamilton-Walton transformation project, would once again be postponed to accommodate the closure of Kalapuya llihi.
In the statement, Seydel said that the University had not experienced construction delays but rather that the repair work is “a longer process than anticipated.”
UO is currently facing a Tile IX lawsuit from the women’s beach volleyball team and women’s club rowing team over alleged funding disparities and gender discrimination compared to men’s sports at UO. 
The University had planned to build a women’s beach volleyball court for the team on the current location of Hamilton hall after demolition; this will now also be delayed another year in light of the Kalapuya delay.

Original reports claimed that there were significant cracks in the walls and supporting beams of KI causing the prompt closure. Seydel said “the change in timing is due to the process and order in which the repairs are being completed.” 
It was not immediately clear in the statement what exact repairs are to be completed.
*This is a developing story. Check back for updates.