New Durant Hall has unique amenities

There are no community bathrooms down the hall, no bunk beds, and no shared closets. However, Weatherford College students lucky enough to get into the new Vickie and Jerry Durant Hall won’t miss them.

Visitors familiar with such dorm living in the past were awed by spacious rooms and special amenities as they toured the newly completed facility at the southeast corner of East Park Avenue and College Park Drive. Weatherford College students and staff greeted guests inside after a brief dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting outdoors.

Jerry and Vickie Durant, owners of Jerry Durant Chevrolet Buick GMC, have been generous to the community in the area of education in the past, helping to finance Durant Auditorium at Weatherford High School in 2003.

“We always want to give back to the community that has been so good to us,” Vickie said in her greeting. “We are blown away with how the community has grown over the years and God has knocked our socks off along the way. When you go inside this dorm you are going to see just how God has knocked our socks off.”

“You all have put us in a position where we can bless Parker County,” Jerry added.

Visitors first enter a grand lobby with lounge seating and a massive fireplace under antler chandeliers. A kitchenette, full weight room, and dorm rooms are on the first floor. Most dorms are four-room suites with two full baths, a common study lounge, kitchenette, and private bedrooms.

Weatherford College president Tod Farmer.

Each four-student suite has a kitchenette, study table, lounge, two full baths, and individual private bedrooms with full-size beds.

The lobby of Durant Hall features a conference area, comfortable seating, antler chandeliers, and a massive fireplace.

The 116-resident Durant Hall on the southeast corner of East Park Avenue and College Park Drive offers residents convenient campus living with amenities not found at many colleges.

Volleyball coach Kailee May greets visitors in the cardio workout room on the second floor.

Keynote speaker and head softball coach Kaylee Williams shows visitors the weight lifting room on the first floor of Durant Hall.

Parker County Chamber of Commerce members Mary Ann Wooldridge and Hartley McCauley

Previous Next

Other floors have more dorm rooms and a large cardio workout room with an East Park Avenue view.

College president Dr. Tod Farmer explained the building was paid for with a donation from the Durant family and with college funds.

“Not one tax dollar was used in the construction,” Dr. Farmer emphasized. “This building will be full to capacity on the day it opens.”

With input from the building committee and college board of trustees, Huckabee Architects was tasked with making comfortable and convenient living a priority so students can study and develop.

“Dr. Farmer was not concerned with how many beds can be crammed into a space,” Mark Huckabee said. “This, for sure, is not your average college dorm. It is definitely unique.”