Demolition of Alfred University’s South Hall begins next week

ALFRED, NY – Demolition of South Hall on the Alfred University campus is set to begin next week, after the Village of Alfred Planning Board gave its unanimous approval Thursday to raze the building on Park Street.

Alfred University has contracted with Empire Build Diagnostics (EBD) of Depew, NY, to demolish the 113-year-old structure. It is expected that the project—demolition, waste disposal, filling with topsoil, and grass re-seeding—will commence on Wednesday, Sept. 8, and take approximately six weeks to complete. The roof of South Hall consists of historic terra cotta tiles. EBD will perform select terra cotta roof tile salvage prior to demolition; all salvaged tile will be wrapped and stored.

Throughout demolition, the building will be sprayed with water to control the dust and prevent any airborne hazardous material migration. Waste water will be collected, filtered and tested for proper disposal. All hazardous material will be loaded into lined dumpsters and documented for proper disposal.

All non-hazardous material will be cleaned and removed through proper waste streams. All non-hazardous masonry—bricks, concrete, i.e.—will be cleaned and used to backfill the foundation. The building footprint will be covered with topsoil and planted with grass.

South Hall was originally constructed in 1908 as the Alfred Grammar School and eventually became the Alfred High School. Some additions were made to the South Hall building in 1929, and it remained the Alfred High School until 1940, when Alfred, Almond and adjacent town schools centralized to form the Alfred-Almond Central School District. In 1941 Alfred University bought South Hall back from the town and the University converted the building into classrooms for business administration, social sciences and education.

From 1976-87, the University allowed Allegany ARC to use space in South Hall to operate Piece Work Industries, an employment and training program for the developmentally disabled. South Hall remained empty from 1987 until 1993. While Alfred University’s Powell Campus Center was being built, South Hall acted as the campus center as well as an exhibition space for the University’s School of Art and Design.

South Hall had originally been set to be demolished in 1994, before it was learned that the National Historic Trust had not given permission for the building to be razed. Over the years, plans were discussed to renovate the building, but the projects proved to be cost-prohibitive.

Due to the extreme structural deterioration of South Hall, the 113-year-old building had been deemed condemned by the village. Although the building has been in a state of disrepair for quite some time, this summer’s heavy rains accelerated the rate of deterioration, rendering the building unstable and presenting various potential health hazards.