The long-awaited demolition of Phi Beta Kappa Hall on the William & Mary campus has finally begun.
Demolition on the structure began just before commencement ceremonies on May 11 and is expected to continue throughout June.
Suzanne Clavet, spokeswoman for the college, said the school doesn’t anticipate any major traffic impacts from the ongoing construction with the exception of occasional momentary delays caused by the movement of construction vehicles. Most of the traffic impacts during the summer, she said, would take place near Jamestown Road because of the Ukrop Way closures.
The demolition and construction of the new facility comes as a result of funding from the Virginia General Assembly, according to the college’s website.
The destruction of the hall will make way for the construction of a new Fine and Performing Arts Complex building.
The $118 million project, expected to be completed in 2021, will create a space for the dance department in the newly renovated hall and the music department will be able to move into its own new building, according to the college’s website.
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Clavet said the demolition process is expected to occur in three phases, starting first with the building’s eastern wing, then the western wing adjacent to the Muscarelle Museum, and then central main building.
The first phase is expected to cost $122,142,000 and create 15 teaching studios, 33 practice rooms, a 60-person choral and 45-person instrumental practice room, and multiple recital halls with more than 500 seats.
Part of that will be renovating the back half of Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall. During that time, the theater and performances spaces in that area will be relocated to existing buildings in the Dillard Complex.
The second phase of the project will be for the Theater, Speech and Dance departments. It will provide the Dance department with the size and type of spaces needed to gain accreditation, which is not possible at the department’s current location in Adair Hall, Clavet said.
This new music building is the future home to classes currently offered in Ewell Hall, which is also slated to be demolished as part of the Campus Master Plan.
