Direct Education Scheduler

MONROE — Wingate University’s most unusual dorm comes with a pool, ice machines and basketball court. Laundry service is free. And Spiro’s Hilltop Bistro and Bar serves as a dining hall.

For this semester, the dorm is America’s Best Value Inn motel off U.S. 74 in Monroe, about four miles from campus. Faced with an unexpectedly large freshman class and an on-campus apartment housing project still under construction, the university decided to renovate and then rent the entire motel for the semester.

“My first reaction was, ‘Can they do that?’” said sophomore Shelby Wilkinson, when she learned she would have to live in the motel. “But it was a lot better than I expected.”

The rooms were clean and a little bigger than anticipated, while neighboring Spiro’s offered much better food than Wingate’s cafeteria, she said.

Spiro’s is an 80-year-old local institution that has served everyone from Bob and Elizabeth Dole to the actors who played Bo and Luke on “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

About 96 Wingate students, mostly freshmen, live at the motel, along with three residential staffers. There’s free shuttle service to campus, and university police and local law enforcement monitor the site.

Other area colleges are also seeing surges in students – including Queens University of Charlotte, Davidson College, UNC Charlotte andLenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory. It stems in part from a growing population and faltering economy that has prompted more people to go back to school to learn new skills.

Record enrollment

Wingate had 660 incoming freshmen this year and 2,300 students campuswide, both record highs for the 114-year-old private school.

School spokeswoman Jennifer Gaskins attributed the increase to several factors, including Wingate’s decision to bolster its financial aid package. Adding track and field to its competitive teams also attracted more students, she said.

Freshman Zachary Ward had doubts about moving into the two-story, 56-room motel, thinking it could be a sketchy situation. But he said he likes his room and is used to the campus shuttle schedule now.

As part of $75,000 in renovations at the 42-year-old motel, Wingate paid for a wooden fence to go up around part of the perimeter, painted inside and out, put in a new fire-alarm system and handled pool improvements.

Students will move out in mid-December. They will relocate to new apartment housing on campus next semester or get other on-grounds housing.

Motel owner Pravin Patel said he’s delighted to rent the motel for the semester.

Taped to the front door is a piece of paper that includes a motel manager’s favorite words: “No vacancy. Wingate University.”

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