Demolition crews began tearing down a pair of Troy University dormitories this week.

Work began with the removal of the exteriors walls of Gardner Hall. Hamil Hall will follow after the Gardner is razed.

Both buildings were built in the 60s and served as on-campus living quarters for students. The university made the decision to remove the buildings following the spring semester.

“In the case of what we’re dealing with here with these buildings, we have other plans for this site,” says Troy University Physical Plant Director Mark Salmon. “We’ve looked at the cost of renovation and the decision that we’ve moved forward with was to repurpose the site for instructional purposes.”

Gardner Hall will be the first of four buildings to come down on the TROY campus this summer making room for future expansion on campus.

“The site is going to be become the new home for the health sciences program here on campus,” says Salmon. “It’s part of the College of Health and Human Services. That building is currently under design and planning and we anticipate bringing that building out of the ground next year.”

McCartha Hall and the Natatorium will follow Gardner and Hamil. All demolition is expected to be complete by late august but the university had to evaluate many aspects before the final decision was made to remove these buildings from campus.

“When we take a look at the buildings itself, we look at their age,” says Salmon. “We take a look at the life cycle of the buildings. We also take a look at what is the the cost of renovating these facilities. all of those go into an effort to balance out and make the best financial decision.”

For the full story watch Claudia’s report.