With the clock ticking and only 11 months before five new residence halls on Catawba College's campus must be completed and ready to occupy, work has begun in earnest on campus to both prepare the building sites and prepare for the demolition of Abernethy Hall.

From the Inside Out
Furniture in residence hall was first removed, with some of it donated to North Hills Christian School and some to the local Foster Parents' Association, according to Catawba Facilities Director Henry Haywood. Locks have been removed from the doors in Abernethy Hall as have fire alarms, electrical panels and even commodes which can be reused on campus. Some of the doors which are interchangeable with the ones in Woodson Hall have also been salvaged. 

Asbestos abatement is now ongoing inside in the circa 1966 Abernethy Hall. Outside the building, crews are relocating underground pipes, wiring, and geothermal controls for heating and cooling buildings on campus," Haywood says. The abatement should be completed by the end of September, and then beginning October 2, the Knoxville, Tennessee-based E. Luke Green, a demolition company that is environmentally sensitive, will begin the process of dismantling Abernethy.

The demolition company will begin its work by removing pipes, some interior walls and key ceiling supports in the pre-cast building. Meanwhile, members of Catawba's facilities staff will begin removing windows from the building which may be used in other ways on campus or donated to a charitable building project.

Then, around October 9, heavy equipment will likely be used to push on the exterior walls of the building causing it to collapse on itself. "Abernethy won't come down with a bang, and some will be disappointed by that," Haywood notes, "but it will come down safely and its remains will be recycled into other projects. What has to be taken to the landfill won't be mixed with dangerous materials."
 

Plans for the Trees
Trees around Abernethy Hall, including some tall pines, sweet gum and a few hardwoods, have already come down to make way for the construction. But Haywood notes that plans have been made to both replant with hardwoods the trees that have been removed and to mark and protect several large trees that will remain on site.

"Some trees were in places where the buildings would go, while others were so near to the buildings that their roots would have been damaged," Haywood explains. "There were a couple of big oaks that will be saved. These are marked and the contractors will construct a protective fencing around these to insure that they are protected during construction.

"The hardwoods and pines that had to come down were sent to the lumber mill, but they will be replaced and we have plans which clearly mark what was taken down and what will be planted in the place of each."

Haywood says that site plans call for 2.5" caliper hardwood trees to be replanted in place of all removed trees. "The trees, we believe, are part of what gives Catawba's campus its distinctive character and we wouldn't be good stewards unless we assured that such trees were part of the institution's future."