Demolition of Norquay, Brewster, and Castle Halls set to begin May 19

As part of the University of Calgary’s Residence Master Plan, sequential demolition of three of its residence buildings — Norquay, Brewster and Castle Halls located on 24th Avenue N.W. — will begin in May.

Starting May 5, 2015 pre-demolition will begin. This means that the buildings will be emptied of all materials, and all furnishings and select equipment will be removed for reuse, sale or recycling. A limited quantity of furnishings that cannot be recycled will go to the landfill.

Demolition will take up to six weeks per building and is planned during permitted City of Calgary construction hours (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.). The contractor is planning to run demolition from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., only going later if any unforeseen circumstances (e.g. a long spell of bad weather) occur.

Demolition is tentatively scheduled as follows:

• Brewster Hall, starting May 19
• Norquay Hall, starting June 22
• Castle Hall, starting July 27

View the demolition plan site map

What can you expect during demolition?

• Slower traffic on 24th Avenue due to inside lane closure to accommodate construction vehicles (the outer lane will always remain open).
• Sidewalk traffic on the north side of 24th Avenue and pedestrian routes on campus will be affected.
• Dust control measures will be in place, but dust cannot be completely eliminated.
• Large trucks will cross the public sidewalk.
• The sidewalk on the west side of University Gate N.W. may be occasionally closed for the demolition of Castle Hall.
• Flag people will direct traffic as required to ensure both pedestrian and driver safety.
• Demolition areas will be securely fenced off, on a building-by-building basis.
• Noise will include sounds typical to the demolition of wood frame buildings. Large backhoes will crush the buildings into their basements before lifting the debris into dump trucks.
• Concrete foundations and slabs will be broken into sizes small enough to be moved by dump truck, resulting in pounding and thumping noises.
• There will be attendant vehicle noise with all activities.
• All concrete crushing for recycling purposes will take place off-site.

Landscaping

After each residence is demolished, the footprint will be back-filled (using material stockpiled on West Campus), compacted and the area landscaped. Cloned aspens grown from material collected from the small aspen grove that was located where Aurora Hall is currently under construction will be used as primary planting materials.

The University of Calgary is working with the contractor and landscape consultant to identify any mature trees in good condition that can be protected during demolition and incorporated into the final landscape plan. Only healthy trees, which don’t pose a risk of toppling and are anticipated to have a long remaining lifespan, will be retained.