Ever since the Center for Women’s Studies was established at the University of North Alabama in 2004, it has been stationed on 663
North Wood Avenue. Once a fairly new bungalow home in the 1930s, the building has now weathered with age. Although the wear and tear of the building may not be visible at first glance, Lynn Rieff, who is the Director of the Women’s Center, has witnessed the diminishing first hand.

Some of the problems that the center has run into within the past few years include: a leaking kitchen ceiling, the back steps collapsing, poor insulation, and complications involving the structure of the building. There is also a possibility that the building could have some environmental problems such as mold growth.

“[The building] just has a lot of maintenance problems,” Rieff said. “You have to reach a point where you ask yourself, ‘Given the age and condition of the building, is it worth continuing to make these kinds of repairs? Has it become a diminishing return?’”

This began the conversation of the Women’s Center moving to Rice Hall. At the end of the fall semester of 2019, Rieff was approached by a “member of administration” about the possible move. However, at the time, Rieff did not believe it was the right time due to the center’s coordinator retiring.

“I was very candid,” Rieff said. “I just told them that because I was doing a search for a new coordinator, I didn’t want to think about moving unless I have to. That’s an overload. My position with the Women’s Center is part-time. I’m a full-time faculty member and the graduate coordinator in the history department, and I teach Women’s Studies courses. On top of that, the pandemic was happening and [the university] shut down. I couldn’t deal with [moving] that semester.”

Still, Rieff knew that it was only a matter of time since the building was not included in the university’s Master Plan for repurposing. Rieff said it was just a question of when and where the center was going to be asked to relocate.

While Rieff now knows that the Women’s Center will be relocating to the second floor of Rice, she has yet to receive a date. Most of the center’s items remain readily boxed up, waiting to be moved. It has been this way since December.

Women’s Center Coordinator Kirsten Wood believes that the move to Rice Hall is going to be advantageous of the center. Wood said if she had her pick on where the center should go, she would want us to be over in Rice.

“It’s going to be really strategic for us, our mission and our goals as a women’s center to be more conveniently located on campus for students to access our services and attend events, and for us to collaborate with other offices like Housing and Residence Life, the Mitchell-West Center for Social Inclusion and student counseling,” Wood said. “I’m really looking forward to all the opportunities for us to expand our programming and initiatives, and to continue building on existing relationships with other offices.”

One of the struggles that the center has had to endure throughout the years is being on the perimeter of the university. Because of this, many students may not know where the center is stationed. With it being moved into Rice, it will be in the midst of student and conveniently accessible.

“I’m ready to take on the change,” Wood said. “I see it as an opportunity for the center to grow and not stand still.” Rieff, who has only known the Women’s Center to be in the building, looks through at the move from a different perspective – through the lens of a historian.

“The building has a character to it,” Rieff said. “I tend to look at old buildings as kind of having a character to them, an environment to them. The kind of environment we’ve created is homey and inclusive.”

Rieff’s concern in moving into a dorm is how it will change the “ethos” of the center. She wonders how the center can address and overcome an institutional dormitory. “While I am focusing on the opportunities that this new location will present, [the women’s center] having its own building is a big plus,” Rieff said. “I hope we can build [our same] identity in Rice. I hope we can keep that continuity of everything being very informal, being relaxed and making things as comfortable as possible for our students.” Rieff said that having to say goodbye to the building will be “bittersweet.”

It has become in Rieff’s routine to take a break from working in her office in Willingham Hall and to walk across the parking lot to check on the center.

“I am a sentimental person to my detriment,” Rieff said. “I understand the problems with the building, but I’m going to miss [it].”

The building recently received an environmental inspection, which is required before its demolition. The Women’s Center move to Rice can be at any time now.