The second phase of the Allerton Apartment complex demolition began early Tuesday morning with building F.

Kent State announced the mandatory closing of the apartment complex in 2010.

According to a university press release, the complex is approaching “the end of its life cycle.” Buildings A through D will remain open until their demolition in 2015.

Kent State contracted Russ James, owner of Russ James Contracting, for the demolition of the closed apartment buildings.

“We bid for the job and had the lowest bid,” James said.

Heavy rainfall early Monday morning slowed progress on the demolition Tuesday. “It’s going to be a hard start because of all the mud,” James said.

Ryan Wisecarver, vice president of Russ James Contracting in Zanesville, said the project is moving forward following a day-long delay Monday caused by a complication with power lines.

“It took a couple of days to prep the building,” Wisecarver said. “It’s time-consuming sorting out the materials. I hope to be done [with the first section] of the building by the end of today.”

Demolition began on the east side of the building but, due to complications from an unforeseen fiber optic cable, was then moved to the west side. It took crews about two hours to complete demolition of the west side Tuesday.

“We’re taking the roof off and keeping it in piles,” James said. “After that we move through and segregate building sections. Eventually it’ll just be a pile of bricks. From there it’ll be taken away from the site to be recycled.”

The Habitat for Humanity of Portage County’s ReStore took appliances and furniture out of several of the closed Allerton buildings last week, said Emily Vincent, director of university media relations, in an email. They will resell the items to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

Following building F, building E will be demolished in the upcoming weeks, according to the university press release. The entire project is slated to last two months. As of now, Kent State does not have any plans for the property.

Contact Bobby Batyko at [email protected].