Bridger Hall demolition starts

Bridger Hall walls start to come down on west wing

   Bridger Hall demolition officially started at about 9 a.m. Tuesday Oct. 18 when a track hoe ripped in to the east wing of the building.
   According to Kim Mills, vice president of administrative services, the hall will be completely torn down by Oct. 31. The building will be gone, the rubble hauled off and the ground will be prepared for the planting of grass in the spring. Mills said that the wings running north-south will be down by end of this week.
  For dust control, Brisco is spraying water on the hall with fire hoses. According to Mills, the contractor estimated about 50,000 to 60,000 gallons of water would be used throughout the demolition process compared to the approximate amount of 500,000 to 600,000 gallons of water that were used a year and a half ago to stop the fire in the hall.
   Mills also said that the demolition seemed to be going better that expected in respect to the amount of mess and noise that was originally predicted to accompany the project.
   Hanna Fairfield, Colter Hall resident director, said that her whole floor was vibrating Tuesday morning.
   Brisco Demolition, which agreed to a hard money contract of $147,500, is completing the project. A hard money contract means that the company agreed to do the demolition for the set amount that NWC officials proposed earlier this year.
   According to Mark Kitchen, vice president of student relations, a decision has not yet been made on whether a memorial or what kind of a memorial might be created for the hall. Kitchen said that the Alumni Association would be meeting Nov. 12 and the options for a Bridger Hall memorial would be a big item on the agenda. Kitchen and Mills both mentioned the fact that 5,000 bricks will be set-aside for alumni and other uses.