A Seattle couple who fondly remember scholarship hall life in their days at Kansas University have pledged $3 million for a new scholarship hall for women to be built on Ohio Street adjacent to other scholarship halls.

Roger Rieger, a 1967 accounting graduate and former Battenfeld Scholarship Hall resident, and his wife, Annette, a 1967 KU graduate who majored in social welfare, have made their pledge to build a new scholarship hall in honor of Roger Rieger’s late brother.

Dennis Rieger, who died of diabetes at the age of 47, graduated from KU in 1972 with a political science degree and received a masters degree in business administration in 1974. Roger Rieger is a residential real estate investor and developer.

The Dennis E. Rieger Hall, expected to open in fall 2005, will be composed of two wings. Living spaces will include suites for four to eight people; also included will be a courtyard, dining area, living room, kitchen and recreational room. Treanor Architects of Lawrence is designing the hall.

Architects will work on the design with a university building committee, chaired by KU Housing Director Ken Stoner, and a community advisory committee, which includes representatives from the Oread Neighborhood Assn., the Campus Historic Preservation Board and the Lawrence Historic Resource Commission. Both committees include current and former scholarship hall residents.

The hall will be KU’s 11th scholarship hall. Like all residence halls at KU, it will receive no state support for operation. Scholarship hall residents pay about $1,400 less per year than students living in residence halls. In exchange for the reduced fees, students agree to work about six hours a week handling household and cooking responsibilities.