Kline Center demolition delayed

Dale Grant, CSC vice president for administration, said that ESA, the South Dakota based company contracted for the demolition, discovered asbestos during preliminary surveys and is not able to tear down the building until it’s been removed.

Grant is seeking final approval this week from the Nebraska State College System to award a bid for asbestos removal from Horsley Specialties of Rapid City, S.D., with hopes to begin the abatement project in the next two weeks. He expects the project to take a month when it’s started.

The Kline Center and other buildings on campus underwent an asbestos removal project in the 1993. Grant said asbestos in the ceiling texturing was removed, but that of the floor tiles and other locations in the building remained.

“It’s unusual for 12-by-12 tiles such as those in the Kline Center to contain asbestos,” he said. “Perhaps they didn’t realize it was there. Asbestos isn’t dangerous until it becomes airborne, so maybe they decided not to remove it at that time.”

The Kline Center, which housed a variety of offices and was originally the college’s student center, closed this summer, with the building’s employees moving to other locations on campus. Chadron State president Dr. Janie Park cited high costs of utilities and maintenance in making the decision, along with the building’s history of structural problems. Grant said the price tag for the building’s removal has become larger, but that cost savings will pay for it in about four years.

The Kline Center was originally twice as large as the existing structure and garnered an architectural award for its design when constructed in two phases in 1961 and 1966. However, the south half of the building soon developed structural problems because of unstable soil conditions. That part was condemned and razed in 1987, creating a space that is now used as an amphitheatre. The current Student Center south of Kline opened in 1990.

No plans have been finalized, but the college officials have considered enhancement of the amphitheatre with landscaping and a band shell for outdoor entertainment.

College officials took action to close another structure on campus in recent weeks. The college’s greenhouse south of the Math and Science Building received damage in the hailstorm late this summer, prompting officials to assess its future viability. The greenhouse also lost its overseer and creator when longtime CSC science professor Dr. Ron Weedon died this summer.

Grant said the building’s windows and tin exterior have become in dire need of repair, forcing a decision on whether to keep it open. After consulting the department’s faculty, the decision was made to close it and seek approval for its demolition.

Nancy Adler, the greenhouse’s caretaker, has been doling out the building’s hundreds of plants and is accepting donations for a future memorial garden.