Housing & Residence Halls

University of Kansas demolishes 50-year-old residence hall (with Video)

McCollum Hall has been replaced by two residence halls that opened earlier this year.
Nov. 25, 2015

A longtime residence hall at the University of Kansas in Lawrence was demolished Wednesday morning.

KCTV-TV reports that the university used about 750 pounds of explosives to detonate McCollum Hall. In 18 seconds, the 10-story, three-wing, 220,000-square-foot residence hall became a pile of rubble.

The university decided to tear down the facility and replace it with more up-to-date student housing. Two residence halls, Oswald and Self halls, opened in August.

McCollum Hall, described by KU as the university' largest and most diverse residence hall, sat atop Daisy Hill on the Lawrence campus and had been home to thousands of students over its 50-year existence. The facility was designed with traditional, two-person rooms, and when it opened in 1965, it offered living space for 910 co-ed students.

After the rubble is cleared from the demolition, the McCollum site will become a surface parking lot.

Video from KCTV:

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Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy, senior editor, has written for AS&U on a wide range of educational issues since 1999.

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