Gilbert demolition to continue through November

The $2.9 million-dollar demolition of the Gilbert residence hall complex will continue through the Fall semester, according to Victor Costa, interim associate vice president for facilities.

Linda Carey, director of housing assignments, said  the closing of Gilbert comes right as the Russell complex is opening so there is not a concern for housing incoming freshmen.

"Russell A and Russell D were completely renovated and opened last year," she said. "Russell C, B, and E were renovated this past year and are opened so all of Russell is fully renovated and opened this fall."

The decision to renovate Russell rather than demolish it like Gilbert was partly due to the adjacent dining hall, Costa said. Likewise, the mechanical infrastructure in Gilbert was failing at a rate faster than in Russell, he said.

The demolition of Gilbert conforms to federal and state guidelines, he stated in an e-mail message.

Costa said the development team has worked to insure the safety of the campus community including removing asbestos during the summer, building a fence to surround the project and installing additional lighting for walking.

"We have also changed our work hours from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. to reduce noise in the early morning hours," he said.

So far, three of the Gilbert buildings have been demolished, but the entire project is not expected to be completed until around Thanksgiving.

The university is in the process of creating a master plan for the housing area on East Campus that will determine the number and style of buildings to replace Gilbert and Harrington, Costa said.

"The master plan will inform us on how many stories the buildings will have to be in character with the surrounding community," he said. "There have been discussions of going to four floors on the new buildings."

There is currently no estimated cost for the new residence hall that will take Gilbert's place.   

Carey said Gilbert was built in the 1950s and its demolition is similar to the university's decision to tear down Pencader on Laird campus, which was destroyed in 2005.

"To build the buildings in Laird, they looked at the systems within Pencader — plumbing and electrical things like that versus new construction," she said.  "They made decisions about what would be the most effective and least costly." 

Carey said the university plans to renovate the Russell complex fully and once Gilbert is finished, renovate the Harrington Complex as well.

"The goal is to build a whole new housing complex, of very high quality, on the east side of campus like the Laird campus," he said. "Our goal will be to eventually have enough housing there to eliminate Rodney and Dickinson."