Western was experiencing a significant housing shortage in the late 1960s and early ’70s as baby boomers came to college. Campus housing and the surrounding community could barely accommodate the student body, and an emergency housing committee implored local homeowners to rent rooms to students.
Buchanan Towers was built over a massive rock, which can be seen to the right of the building under construction in this 1970 photo. It can still be seen in BT’s “Rock Room” which appeared in the winter 2019 edition of Window, “A History of Western in 125 Objects.”
Buchanan Towers got an addition in 2011, and the older section is under renovation this spring and summer. Workers will upgrade plumbing, ventilation, fire detection and security systems, replace doors and windows, and refresh interior finishes and exterior masonry.
