Demolition of Seabury Hall begins

IvyLee Rosario – NewsWriter –

The use of Seabury Hall has come to a halt as the old building has run its course and is now being demolished.

“The building is old, and there is no reason to keep it around. It is just taking up space, and now that we have the new business school, Seabury is no longer needed,” said Robert Sheeley, associate vice president of Capital Budgeting and Facilities Operations at Southern.

Seabury Hall, which was used as a home for the offices of business professors, was built in 1956. It was the first residence hall on Southern’s campus and now the building features an array of problems including mold, leaks and even asbestos.

“The building is in no shape to be used anymore. There are so many issues with it,” said Ellen Durnin, dean of the new School of Business. “Now that we have the new business building, everything both professors and students will need is right here.”

The new School of Business will now take over as the building used for all business majors. This includes accounting, economics and finance, management, marketing, management information systems as well as the MBA graduate program.

In addition to housing these majors, the new building also includes classrooms, study rooms and department offices—something that Seabury was lacking.

“Seabury didn’t even have room for students to have class in there. The only thing that building was used for was to hold the offices for professors,” said Sheeley. “It made no sense because these students would have to take classes in Engelman Hall but have to walk all the way to Seabury just to see an advisor or professor.”

Seabury Hall had not been updated in years in the course of its time at Southern. Another qualm about the building was that it was difficult for students to manuever; the building had four floors, but without an elevator, it was nearly inaccessible for handicap students. Without accommodations like these available, the use for Seabury Hall was even more unlikely.

“Seabury Hall was always so annoying to get to. Every time I had to go there I always thought, ‘Why not have everything in one building?’” said Hillary Wheeler, 20, a junior accounting major. “It was pointless for me to be taking all these major classes somewhere else but then have to walk to Seabury just to see my advisor.”

The demolition of Seabury Hall started this past week and the estimated time for completion will be by Jan. 1, 2013. The process of demolition will take some time due to the list of problems that need to be taken care of both inside and out.

“We have to oversee that the interior gets demolished first. The asbestos from the pipes need to be removed as well as control over the leakage that fills the inside,” said Sheeley. “We have to make sure the entire inside is stripped before they can move to the outside and the building can be torn down.”

Capital Budgeting and Facilities Operations oversees the building changes on campus along with the Department of Construction Services in Connecticut. They check on building projects on campus to make sure everything is running smoothly and if any important changes need to be done, it is taken care of.

“We have a much better building now, one that is up-to-date and will satisfy the needs of the students here on campus,” said Durnin. “Seabury Hall will be a thing of the past.”