Butler University is planning to rehab a vacant dorm into a Hilton hotel, the university announced Aug. 23.
The new Hilton hotel is scheduled to open in the 2026-2027 school year in the former Ross Hall. The hotel will be part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, a brand that focuses on locations and buildings with unique history or characteristics.
The hotel will have 105 rooms, a signature restaurant and multiple meeting spaces, according to a news release from Butler.
Butler will lease the land housing and surrounding Ross Hall to Alabama-based Purpose Lodging, who will own, develop and operate the hotel.
The university has been searching for a new use for Ross Hall for several years.
The dorm, which opened in 1954, is the oldest residence hall at Butler. During the pandemic, Butler converted the facility into a quarantine dorm for students with COVID-19. But the dorm has not housed students full-time in more than four years.
The hotel project is part of Butler’s efforts to integrate the university into the surrounding Butler-Tarkington neighborhood.
The university recently announced it will use a $22.5-million grant from the Lilly Endowment to build a new recreation center for the nearby Martin Luther King Center, construct a safety and transit hub on campus and fund beautification efforts at the university’s Holcomb Gardens and at nearby Tarkington Park.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on social media @clairerafford.
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