An approximately 68-year-old building is being demolished to kick-start the revitalization of the south side of WSU’s campus.

On the right of Stadium Way, entering the south side of campus, is the Kruegel-KMac building. The school is working toward tearing it down. The building is expected to be gone by the end of February and the entire project is expected to be finished by the end of April.

The project has to complete multiple steps before being finished. Currently, the project is focusing on removing asbestos from the building. After removing the asbestos, the building can be safely taken down. The final step of the project is to irrigate and reseed the lawn where the building once stood.

The project could cost the school up to $2.65 million.

Hailey James, WSU’s chief of staff, said the campus is beautiful because of all its historical buildings but the age of some buildings brings along challenges. When attempting to make renovations, some older buildings must be demolished.

When gathering funds for construction projects, the school can get state funding when they are building an academic building. For this project, the school must look elsewhere. 

“For housing buildings, we are not allowed to use state funding, and so typically they’re funded through students living in residence halls and paying for dining plans,” James said. “That money is then set aside to reinvest back into the student experience.”

The building, constructed in 1956, consists of two sections. The Kruegel portion of the building stands five stories tall and is around 37,869 gross square feet. The KMac portion of the building stands four stories tall and is around 15,557 gross square feet.

The building was originally used as a residence hall but has taken on many different roles throughout its life. It was used for academic and administrative duties in the 2000s. 

Recently the building has been emptied and gone unused. The empty building has been broken into multiple times by vandals.

“It’s becoming sort of an attractive nuisance, people were breaking into the building so it really needed to go away,” project manager Cynthia Arbour said. “It provides an opportunity for that space to be used for a better purpose.”

The construction site is currently surrounded by fencing and has been affecting foot traffic for students on the south side of campus. A portion of the parking lot next to the KMac section of the building is blocked off; students cannot cut through the area and must walk around the construction site. 

“I’m kinda glad it’s getting removed,” freshman kinesiology major Sean O’Neal said. “I do not like it being all boarded up though because it means I have to walk all the way around.”

In addition to affecting foot traffic, the project is expected to affect traffic on Stadium Way as well.

“We are trying to focus over winter break when most people are gone we will be shutting down the two northbound lanes of Stadium Way and directing north and south traffic on the two typically southbound lanes,” Arbour said. 

As far as revitalizing the south side, there are more plans in place after this project finishes. 

“Right now we are in the process of starting design for a renovation of Southside Café,” Arbour said. 

Students and faculty can expect WSU’s campus to continue changing. The school has many construction projects in place now and more will come in the future.

James said she thinks the next building slated to be demolished will be Heald Hall.