The University of Lynchburg recycled about 85 percent of the materials from the McWane Hall demolition. The residence hall, located between Freer and Shackleford halls, was demolished in May to make way for a new living and learning community. The new complex also will be home to the Westover Honors College.
In a statement to University officials, building contractor Jamerson-Lewis Construction said “rough estimations” indicate “we diverted 600 out of 700 tons of building debris to a recycling yard. That should have us close to an 85-percent recycled content mark.”
The recycling effort is in keeping with the University’s ongoing commitment to sustainability. “It reflects the values of the institution to do the best we can to recycle and re-use,” Steve Bright, vice president for business and finance, said.
According to Boyce Hamlet, director of the University’s physical plant, the types of materials recycled from McWane included asphalt, concrete, metal, copper, wiring, and brick. “Everything we could recycle, we recycled,” he said, adding that in addition to construction materials, furniture and appliances from the building found new homes on campus.
“A lot of the furniture was recycled and re-purposed for campus. We saved all the appliances and the water heaters have already been re-purposed. Two went to Drysdale Student Center, where we had two fail. They cost about $5,000 apiece. We were able to salvage six of those.”
The bricks that were saved, along with some keystones, will be available for purchase at Homecoming. “We have some bricks and some keystones that came from the windows and they will be available at Homecoming for purchase by those who might want to have a piece of McWane history,” Mike Bonnette, senior vice president for advancement, said.
Regarding the progress of new construction, Greg McCann, site superintendent for Jamerson-Lewis Construction, said the following work has been accomplished since demolition:
- All existing building/site utilities have been removed.
- Underground asbestos containing materials have been abated.
- New sanitary sewer lines have been run to Shackleford and Freer residence halls, as well as what will serve the new building.
- New valves have been installed on waterlines to allow for construction to continue without interruption to the occupied residence halls.
- Aggregate piers have been installed for about 30 percent of the building foundations.
- Concrete footings started last week.
- Undercut and replacement of poor soils under the building pad also started last week.
McCann said plans over the next month include the following:
- Footings to continue.
- Soil undercut to be completed.
- Aggregate piers to be completed.
- Concrete retaining walls to begin.
- Masonry foundation walls to begin.
- Plumbing/underground utilities to begin in building pad.
- Main electrical service conduits to be installed.
According to Kristen Cooper, director of residence life, some architectural design changes also have been made to the new building’s exterior. “We have value engineered some changes,” she said. “We’ve made some material changes and have redesigned the exterior walls of the building into a flat surface.
“The University, the contractor, and the architect are working diligently to value engineer the building to ensure the project remains within the target budget. Currently, the project remains on schedule with anticipated occupancy for Fall 2019.”
You can read more about the plans for the new residence hall here.
