UND Master Plan Identifies Campus Buildings to be Demolished

Those buildings earmarked for demolition include low-use classroom buildings and low-density student housing

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — UND has constructed a number of new buildings on campus over the last few years.

From residence halls to classroom buildings, older buildings are being torn down.

UND has been busy updating its campus.

Now, the university faces the prospect of tearing down historical buildings.

“A number of the buildings were empty or had low utilization and also would take quite a bit of deferred maintenance or backlog for capital renewal, so it would take quite a bit of financial investment to bring them up,” said Michael Pieper, Associate VP of Facilities.

Buildings earmarked for demolition this summer include low–density student apartments and low–usage classroom buildings.

According to UND’s master plan, many offices and services held in these older buildings are moved across campus to newer buildings.  Before the wrecking ball can demolish any of these older buildings, the university will have to take steps to record their historical impact.

“If there’s significance with those buildings, we may have to do something with our resource library – we may shoot videos, pictures, documents – some of that,” said Pieper.

Future plans for the space where these buildings stand is still up in the air.

“It’s more future development if it was to occur on campus – what are the best sites – and they may be listed as one of those sites,” said Pieper.

Plans for the land after demolition will be finalized after a campus meeting in Februa