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Demolition for new education building starts |
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Tuesday, 15 April 2008 |
by BRANDON BROWN
News Reporter
Students looking to snag a free parking space on campus last week were met with a chain link fence, as access to the vacant property purchased for the new College of Education building was restricted in preparation for today’s demolition.
Appalachian State University’s Office of Design and Construction is currently waiting for the North
Carolina asbestos inspector’s approval before proceeding with the demolition, said Dr. Clyde D.
Robbins, director of design and construction.
Robbins said the reason the demolition and construction have taken so long to come to fruition is
because of all the red tape.
 Fencing was erected last week to prepare for demolition of the property scheduled to house the new Reich College of Education Building. The property is adjacent to the Belk Library & Information Commons. Photo by Adam Dixon
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Robbins said the Appalachian State University Foundation, a private entity, first purchased the property, then the state, in turn, purchased the property from the foundation.
“It’s all bureaucratic,” Robbins said. “It took a while to negotiate.”
Robbins said the demolition process will take three to four weeks to complete.
Since the buildings stretching from Cottrell Apartments to Campus Edge Condominiums were vacated
and boarded up, many students were taking advantage of the abandoned lots by parking their vehicles
there for free.
Senior hospitality and tourism management major Jessica R. Barnett was surprised to find her car was
not towed or ticketed early in the semester when she parked in the abandoned lot to drop off her
desktop to technology support on campus.
Barnett said she would have continued to park there if she knew she wouldn’t have been towed.
A secretary for University Parking and Traffic said the department has nothing to do with the property
until the new parking lots are constructed and there is a need to enforce those lots.
However, Robbins said the free-for-all parking was never a big worriment to the design and construction
team.
“The problem was homeless people were getting into the property from day one,” Robbins said. “[They]
took out the plywood and frames.”
Students who frequented the abandoned parking lots aren’t the only ones who will have to find a new
place to park, as the First Presbyterian Church’s adjacent parking lot, which has been rented to the
university for several years and serves as a faculty lot, will be entirely dedicated to the college of
education construction site.
Robbins said the parking lot behind Plemmons Student Union and the University Post Office will be
closed for two years while the construction is taking place.
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