Campus Transformation: Scheduled Demolition
To make room for a future interdisciplinary research building, contractors have started to prepare Barry and Burges halls for demolition. The land located off Sun Bowl Drive, southeast of the University Avenue roundabout, is needed for the planned research building, which is awaiting funding approval by the Texas governor.
The two halls are former dormitories. Burges most recently served the University as office and research lab space. Burges Hall opened in 1963 and Barry Hall opened in 1971.
Approximately 90 faculty and staff from 13 offices who worked in Burges Hall are being relocated to Kelly Hall, Prospect Hall, the Campbell Building and the Physical Sciences Building. The moves will be completed by June 12, and demolition will begin shortly after.
Burges will be torn down first. Crews will use hydraulic demolition claws to chew away at the buildings. Debris will be loaded into semitrailers along Sun Bowl Drive that will stage in the right-hand northbound lane. The trailers will exit campus through the University Avenue roundabout and enter I-10 west. In the meantime, crews continue to remove material from inside and outside Barry Hall to prepare it for demolition, which will occur after Burges Hall comes down.
Demolition work is scheduled for completion in August 2015. Sun Bowl Drive, University Avenue and adjacent sidewalks generally will remain open during demolition.
Contractors plan a brief closure of the sidewalk next to Burges Hall at some point during the project.
