A fresh start

The 12-floor student residence hall and its adjacent sister, Calhoun Hall, offer spectacular views of campus — a bird’s-eye panorama of Nippert Stadium, Tangeman University Center, Gettler Stadium and neighboring College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). 

It’s also a quick walk to the business district along Calhoun Street, a student magnet with retailers like Target and Amazon, along with popular restaurants and bars — Hummus Republic, Shake Shack, The Rowdy Paw and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers to name a few.

“Siddall Hall is one of the closest residence halls to CCM,” says Meg Lynch, a second-year student studying percussion performance. “I lived in Siddall, and it made it really easy for me to get to class on time and if I needed a break in the middle of the day, I could literally go home. This was a great location.”

Lynch lived on the third floor of Siddall and was among the first students to reside in the newly renovated residence hall this past year. Siddall is celebrating its first anniversary after its grand reopening last year.

“I would recommend living in Siddall Hall for first-year students,” says Lynch. 
“I loved living in a residence hall because it is way more social. Once my roommate and I got up at 6 a.m., we went over to neighboring Calhoun Hall to watch the sunrise, as the building faces east. It was spectacular.”

Lynch used the residence hall’s fitness center and practiced in its music performance room.

“I would recommend living there, especially to any CCM student, because it is invaluable to be that close to where your classes are,” says Lynch.

UC reopened Siddall Hall last August after it had been closed for 18 months of renovations. 

The $85 million project created a refreshed Siddall Hall that now offers 500 beds on 12 floors of residence hall space. The 112,000-square-foot building boasts amenities, including a 5,000-square-foot fitness area, lounge space and a common laundry and kitchenette. Messer Construction handled renovations for the project.

Pratham Upadhyay, a second-year computer science student, says he’s still surprised he enjoyed living in Siddall Hall so much. 

“I was kind of worried I would be homesick and struggling to adapt, but I feel like living in a traditional residence hall, like Siddall, kind of made the whole experience a lot easier,” says Upadhyay. 

“No matter what I wanted to do I had to step out of my room and interact. Whether it was to eat food, go to the bathroom or hang out with friends in the common area,” says Upadhyay. “It was impossible to stay isolated, and I made so many friends.”

A popular hangout for Upadhyay and others was in MarketPointe, a dining facility serving students in Siddall and Calhoun. And like Lynch he used the Siddall Fitness Center and met with other students in the common floor lounges for movie nights or to watch television. His resident adviser introduced him to the joys of college football.

“I wouldn’t have made so many friends if I hadn’t lived in Siddall,” says Upadhyay.

Students will be returning to UC residence halls beginning Tuesday, Aug. 19 — the first move-in day. Classes start at UC on Monday, Aug. 25.

Nycole Hicks, community coordinator for Siddall Hall, says she wants students to know and value the history of Siddall Hall.

“People excel in environments where they feel valued. I think Siddall represents the value that we as a university pour into our students,” says Hicks. “And the students give it back. That’s why the building was so well taken care of throughout the year. People value this community.”

Siddall Hall originally opened in the fall of 1964. It was built to be a women’s residence hall and named for Helen Walker Siddall. Helen Siddall was a native Cincinnatian and a graduate of nearby Hughes High School. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from UC in 1922. She and her husband, Kelly, were benefactors for the residence hall, which was constructed without public funds.

Helen Siddall was extremely active in Cincinnati civic organizations. She led the Red Cross War Fund during World War II and continued her service for many more years. Kelly Siddall received a degree in commercial engineering from UC in 1925 and an honorary degree in 1962. He was instrumental in establishing the UC Fund, now known as the UC Foundation, and served as national president of the UC Alumni Association from 1963-64.

Current students are enjoying UC's most recently renovated residence hall, and Siddall Hall alumni also find the renovated structure pleasing and properly tooled to support a new generation of Bearcats.

UC First Lady Jennifer Pinto, ‘92, remembers leaving her family in Cleveland, Ohio, for Siddall Hall during her first year at UC. She studied psychology as a UC undergraduate before going on to get a doctorate in the field at Wright State University.

“I arrived at Siddall a day earlier than everyone else because there was a conflict with my older sister’s move-in day at Ohio State,” recalls Pinto, PsyD. “The dorm was empty, even my (resident adviser) was not there. She did leave me a note, though, to welcome me and caution me to keep my door closed because there were bats in the dorm that night.

“Needless to say, I stayed holed up in my room, eating cold ravioli out of the can for dinner,” she says. “The next morning, my roommate arrived. The scary first night was instantly forgotten.”

Pinto and her husband, UC President Neville Pinto, were among Siddall’s biggest cheerleaders during a grand reopening ceremony. They toured the residence hall along with others in the community.

“When I had the opportunity to visit my old dorm room, the memories, good and bad, came flooding back,” says Pinto. “I remembered clearly how it felt to leave my family for the first time — the anxiety and excitement that came with that. I recalled exactly where my bed was positioned and what decorations we had taped to the walls. 

“My roommate Laneen and I wanted to be able to see which room was ours from (outside down on) the track, so we put our names on the windows in pink and blue letters,” says Pinto. “Seeing my room also brought back sad memories of my friend back home who died in a car accident that October and how all the girls on my floor rallied around to support me.

“I was really impressed with the remodel of Siddall,” explains Pinto. “The new community rooms, connections to Calhoun, updated bathrooms, along with the amazing dining center and the conveniently located exercise center are all impressive upgrades. I’m so happy that Siddall has been renovated and can continue to be a great place for future Bearcats to live.”

Featured top photo shows UC officials during the Siddall Hall grand reopening. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand.