LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The epicenter of the UNLV tragedy will reopen eight months after a deadly shooting forced its closure, bringing new security features and old tensions to the building.
Frank and Estella Beam Hall was the site where gunfire rang out on the morning of Dec. 6, 2023. The police response potentially saved lives but left widespread damage.
The university says over 130 doors and doorframes were wrecked as officers searched for the shooter who murdered three faculty members and injured a fourth over rejected employment. Access to the building has been restricted since.
Allister Dias said he was working inside the student newspaper’s office the day of the shooting, in the building directly next door. The work prevented him from attending his 11:30 a.m. class inside Beam Hall. Police say the shooting began at 11:45 a.m.
As a business major, Beam Hall – which houses the business school – was his second home.
“A lot of students, including myself, will, to some degree, never have that thought of what happened in there leave our minds,” Dias said outside Beam Hall Friday morning.
Dias, along with the rest of the campus community, received a letter from University President Keith Whitfield on Thursday that detailed how the structure is now more secure after upgrades. They include:
- Proximity card and stairwell key requirements to access floors three, four and five throughout the fall semester. These floors house faculty offices and where the gunfire took place.
- Five video surveillance cameras installed inside the building’s elevator lobbies on floors one through five.
- Security desk added to the first-floor atrium, staffed with a uniformed officer throughout the fall semester.
- Replaced fire alarm systems on floors three, four and five.
- New classroom telephones installed with enhanced emergency notification capabilities.
“We’ve made good progress on our road to recovery. But we still have more work to do, and I am committed to doing all that I can to ensure that every member of our university community feels safe, supported, and welcome on our campus,” President Whitfield wrote.
Dias, now student body president, is expected to attend his upcoming semester’s classes inside Beam Hall. It’s unclear if his fellow classmates will.
“For me, I of course feel perfectly comfortable going back there, but, you know, to many students, they may not feel ready,” Dias said. “Students feel a little bit safer because of the renovations. However, I would say that many students have brought their concerns to me regarding UNLV still being an open campus and essentially anyone being able to walk into any campus building at any time.”
Whitfield told media after the shooting that the University would not close its campus and will always allow “people coming and going.” Then, he said the “latest technology” was how the university would make the campus safer.
“I think that there’s a lot more discussion that needs to be held,” Dias said. “I don’t think inherently it’s a one-solution-thing that solves everything.”
Whitfield says Beam Hall will reopen on Aug. 13, roughly two weeks before the fall semester and classes begin again.
A total of 350 doors were replaced in other buildings because of similar damage when police evacuated students. The interior space of Beam Hall has also been repainted, redecorated and landscaped.
