Allerton buildings G and H will be demolished in July

Apartment complex are likely set for demolition in late July, said Mike Bruder, assistant director for the Office of the University Architect.

“Right now, we’re doing asbestos abatement inside,” Bruder said.

B & B Wrecking & Excavating, Inc., the construction company contracted to demolish the buildings, is clearing buildings G and H of asbestos to prevent it from becoming airborne during demolition of the two buildings.

Allerton apartment manager Brian Hellwig said the buildings are about 40 years old and have outlived their life span.

“They’ve had problems with mechanical and electrical systems that are just deteriorated,” Bruder said.

Tom Euclide, director for the Office of the University Architect, said the decision to demolish the buildings was made because maintenance could become too costly.

“It was going to take far more money to renovate the buildings than we could economically justify,” Euclide said.

Euclide also said there are no plans to rebuild the buildings. The area where they are located will be “grassed over” by the planting season in the fall, he added.

No roads are expected to be closed during construction, but the parking lot near the two buildings will be.

“The buildings have been vacant for about a year and the parking lot is not really being used anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Bruder said.

“The students living in buildings G and H were relocated to other apartments in the Allerton Complex about a year ago,” Hellwig said.

The project is expected to be completed by the fall.

– Kurt Jakub