University of Michigan considering $9 million demo project

The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan will vote Nov. 20 on whether to tear down a 114-year-old building to clear space for a new $261 million Biological Science Building on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, campus.

The regents will vote whether to approve the $9 million demolition of North Hall and the adjacent Museums Annex. According to a report in the Ann Arbor News, officials have determined that the 48,500-square-foot building is too costly to repair.

North Hall, the second oldest building on the University of Michigan campus, had hosted U.S. armed forces Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) activities since 1940 and was decommissioned by that organization at a ceremony in July 2014.

At its February 2014 meeting, the Board of Regents approved the construction of a new Biological Science Building on the same site as North Hall and appointed an architect for its design.

If the demolition project is approved, the proposed timeframe has it beginning in January 2015. Completion of the new science building is anticipated by the summer of 2018.