[media-credit name=’NATALIE WEINBERGER/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Due to low student-housing demands, the University of Wisconsin’s all-women lakefront dormitory, Elizabeth Waters, plans to become a co-ed facility in fall 2006.

To better suit those preferring all-women housing, Cole Hall, another lakeshore dorm, will be designated as the only remaining all-women dormitory.

Only 183 women cited Elizabeth Waters, which houses 488 beds, as their first choice this semester, making Cole Hall, with 244 beds, more fit for those requesting all-women student housing, according to UW officials.

Among women applying for university housing, UW Housing Director Paul Evans said Elizabeth Waters was “ranked as the least desired than any other building.”

Yet Evans added there is still a significant demand for all-women’s housing.

“Elizabeth is just too big based on the demand, so we needed a smaller building,” he said. “We still think there’s a demand for all-women’s housing — just not enough for a building as large as Elizabeth Waters.”

Evans said because of Liz Waters’ location and various attractive amenities, such as a high-end cafeteria, larger rooms and a panoramic lake view, “It will be a highly desired dorm for both men and women.”

And it’s those amenities in that location — not the all-women designation — which has made Liz Waters an attractive dorm for women over the years, UW sophomore and second-year Liz Waters resident Melissa Lutz said.

“To me, it’s the location,” she said while lounging in her neatly kept dorm room with fellow sophomores Kailey Feyereisen and Britny Gabert, also second-year residents. “We got the wicked-cool cafeteria downstairs … [and] the big rooms are a big feature.”

But while the women enjoy Liz Waters’ perks, they admit the stricter rules — which could be alleviated by a co-ed designation — can be a pain.

“It’s a pain in the [butt],” Lutz said of Liz Waters’ stern security policies, which entail frequent hall checks and require residents to escort male and female guests alike in and out of the building. “They even check the trash room and open the bathroom doors.”

Feyereisen, Gabert and Lutz said they would support a co-ed Liz Waters.

“I’m looking forward to a little testosterone in the dorm,” Gabert mused.

UW freshman Julie Feld said she selected Liz Waters as her first choice because the dorm houses the women’s group Women In Science and Engineering rather than because of the building’s designation.

“It wasn’t really a factor,” Feld said of the dorm’s all-women status. “It has the cafeteria downstairs and it’s centrally located.”

When Liz Waters becomes a co-ed dorm, WISE will move to Cole Hall.

“I don’t like that WISE is moving, but I’d still want to stay here,” Feld said.

UW sophomore, second-year Liz Waters resident and WISE member Erin Brunner said she thinks a co-ed designation will negatively affect the dorm’s all-female environment.

Liz Waters opened in 1940 as an all-women dorm, named after an 1885 UW graduate, former UW regent and president of the Wisconsin Education Association.

Former all-women dorms Chadbourne Hall and Barnard Hall became co-ed in 1995 and 2001, respectively.