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This summer, Troy University will demolish four buildings to make way for more modern structures.

Mark Salmon, the director of Troy University’s Physical Plant, said demolition of Gardner and Hamil Halls were currently underway and the removal of the buildings should be complete by the end of August. Demolition of the natatorium and McCartha Hall is scheduled to begin soon and those buildings are expected to be fully removed by the end of August as well.

“A lot of factors went into the decision to demolish these buildings,” Salmon said. “We considered the building’s age, the building’s life cycle and the cost or renovation compare to the cost of demolition and building a new structure. In this case, it was going to be more cost effective to build new buildings.”

Salmon said Troy University had a longstanding tradition of making cost-effective decisions and improving the overall beauty and utility of the campus.

He said a new building for health sciences will be built on the site of Gardner and Hamil Halls and a green space will occupy the area where the natatorium stands. Also, a new manufacturing science center will be built on the McCartha footprint.

“From Day One, Chancellor [Jack] Hawkins wanted to improve the campus so people can enjoy their time here,” Salmon said. “These new buildings will not only beautify the campus; they will enhance the academic experience.”

A new Health and Human Services building on the Gardner and Hamil site will house the school of nursing and kinesiology as well as all of the schools’ faculty and staff. Salmon said future work for the site was still in the planning stages, but construction should begin sometimes next spring.

He said plans for the Center for Materials and Manufacturing Science building were further along and construction of the building would begin sooner than work on the Health and Human Service building. Salmon said the Center for Materials and Manufacturing Science was a community outreach center that would help industries in the area by researching plastics used in manufacturing.