Interior demolition has begun on Stansbury Hall to make way for Reynolds Hall, the new home of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics.
Joe Patten, WVU’s executive director of planning, design, construction, and scheduling, said full demolition work on Stansbury will continue through October, about the time when construction on the 177,000 square-foot, five-floor Reynolds Hall will begin.
“Construction will begin right after demolition is completed,” Patten said.
Stansbury Hall was built in the 1920s and had been the home of various WVU departments including religious studies, humanities, philosophy, international programs, as well as the Army ROTC and the Air Force ROTC. The 71-year-old building is named for Harry Stansbury, a former WVU athletic director.
The building, which sits next to the river, had also been the home of WVU basketball until 1970. Portions of Stansbury Hall’s original basketball court have been salvaged, including the center court logo and other items from the Jerry West-Hot Rod Hundley era. Those items will be incorporated into the WVU Basketball Hall of Traditions, the university said.
Patten said there will be minimal disruption of traffic along Beechurst Avenue and Caperton Trail during construction and demolition. Any traffic delays will be announced and coordinated with the West Virginia Division of Highways and the City of Morgantown.
The sidewalk in front of Stansbury Hall will be closed during demolition and construction. WVU Parking Area 11 will also be closed in early July and permit holders in that lot will be relocated.
Around 2,700 students are in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, a total projected to eventually rise to 4,000.
WVU has hired P.J. Dick Inc. as the construction manager and Strada Architecture LLC and Gensler, an international architecture firm based in New York, as the project architects. P.J. Dick and Strada are based in Pittsburgh and have done building projects on the WVU campus.
David Beaver, senior associate vice president for auxiliary and business services, declined to put a price tag on Reynolds Hall because portions of the project are still being negotiated.
As part of the plan to build Reynolds Hall, nearby Hodges Hall will be gutted and renovated for classroom and office space. In February 2017, Bob Reynolds, a 1974 WVU finance graduate and his wife Laura, donated $10 million to the business school.
