Demolition Project Resumes at MSU’s Morrill Hall
ByMichigan State University has resumed the demolition of the historic 113-year-old Morrill Hall after the building's roof caught fire Wednesday evening.
It took the East Lansing Deputy Fire crews about two hours to douse the flames.
No injuries were reported as the building was unoccupied at the time.
MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said crews returned to work, Thursday, after campus engineers determined Morrill Hall was still structurally safe.
East Lansing Deputy Fire Chief Troy Brya said the fire appears to have started from the debris on the roof, part of which collapsed. Since the blaze concentrated near and around the roof and attic, the structure of the building remained intact.
McGlothian-Taylor said that the investigation has been completed but the cause of the fire has not been identified and there was no foul play suspected.
Demolition work started on the building in March and was expected to be completed in August. Currently, the project was in the first of the three stages - restore and reduction of hazardous materials, May; demolition in June; and site restoration in July and work on the terrace is expected to continue through fall.
The total cost for the demolition and walkway construction is estimated to be at $1 million. The building's dark red facade will be conserved and used in the terraced walkway to match the building's footprint.
Almost three years ago, the university's Board of Trustees approved a proposal to pull down the building after multiple inspections concluded that its wooden structure had decayed beyond repair and would be too costly to renovate
The officials had already moved the English and history departments from there to a Wells Hall addition and a recently renovated Old Horticulture Building.
Earlier, Morrill Hall, also known as 'The Coop,' was used as a dormitory for female students and also accommodated home economics classrooms.
In the 1930s, the hall was converted to classroom space and was named after Justin S. Morrill, a former U.S. senator who authored the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, which introduced federal funding for most of the nation's public institutions.