The destruction of Lord and Brown Halls has left parts of campus a mixture of rusty fencing, dust, bricks and construction equipment. But Ohio State has been trying to reduce the debris to comply with the interim Green Build and Energy Policy and to keep students safe.
A primary concern of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety is the dust caused by the destruction of Brown Hall.
"I'm watching out that they're keeping the dust down," said Tim McCarthy, a safety engineer with Environmental Health and Safety. The reason they hose down the buildings as they destroy them is to settle the dust, he added.
Without the water hose, "you'd be having dust blowing up in the air. We're trying to stop that," McCarthy said.
KENNY GREER/THE LANTERN
KELLY WRIGHT/THE LANTERN
Lord Hall, top, and Brown Hall are in the midst of destruction. With destruction comes dust, rusty fencing, bricks and construction equipment, all contributing to a wide array of debris. Workers from local agencies work to maintain safety and handle the cleanup of the sites.
As the buildings are demolished, an architectural salvage company collects whatever materials can be salvaged.
The company sells the materials at its Grandview Heights facility every Saturday.
Contractors then bid to take charge of recycling other debris.
"It's competitive," said Brendan Flaherty, the construction manager with Facilities Operations and Development.
S.G. Loewendick and Sons won the bid to recycle the debris of Lord Hall, and Baumann Enterprises won the bid for Brown Hall.
Not all of the materials were up for bid, though: The entryway to Brown Hall and the building's Greek column were taken to be preserved at the Chadwick Arboretum.
Currently, Lord Hall is in the final stages of destruction.
"They started hauling debris [Monday] night," Flaherty said. Debris is hauled from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday.
"They'll have trucks coming and going. It'll be about two weeks to do that. Then they'll dig up the foundation," he said. "After, we'll fill up the site with sidewalks and lighting. There will be a small parking lot."
Brown Hall is "very close. We'll start hauling off debris at night next week," Flaherty said. "The projects are within a week apart … it's been great."
The total cost for the demolition of both buildings, including recycling, disconnecting utilities and other technicalities, exceeds $1 million. This does not include the cost of future construction on the properties.
Everdeen Mason can be reached at mason.388@osu.edu.
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