Then & Now: Deseret Towers - Y Magazine
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Then & Now: Deseret Towers


 

BYU housing in the 1960s
Courtesy L. Tom Perry Special Collections UAP 2 F-245

A northeast view of campus in the 1960s included 24 Heritage Halls buildings and five of the eventual seven Deseret Towers dorms. Heritage Halls, finished in 1956, initially housed only women, who each paid $20 a month for rent. Construction on Helaman Halls, originally for men, began soon after. In response to the growing demand for on-campus housing, Deseret Towers joined the single-student housing offerings in the 1960s.

 

2015 view of BYU housing units.
Photo by Bradley Slade

The last four original Heritage Halls buildings were razed in August, joining Deseret Towers, demolished in 2006 and 2007. In their place, BYU welcomes the new Heritage Halls residences, the first of which were occupied in 2011. There are now 12 halls in use, and when the 13th—and last—is completed in 2017, they will house up to 2,750 students. Among new Heritage’s enticing offerings: washing machines that accept ID cards (not just quarters), increased green space, individualized lighting systems to facilitate late-night roommate harmony, and, with the mission-age change, 19-and-older communities.