University Hall, the University of Virginia’s storied home of athletic exploits and artistic achievement, is now a pile of rubble after its demolition this morning at 10 a.m.
And the man who “built” the place was the one to bring it down. Basketball legend Ralph Sampson, the three-time national player of the year who led the Cavaliers to a 50-2 record in the early 1980s, pushed the demolition button, along with fellow UVA basketball legend Dawn Staley, athletic director Carla Williams and UVA Board of Visitors member Robert Hardie.
The basketball programs, both men’s and women’s, that achieved so much in U-Hall moved across Massie Road to John Paul Jones Arena in 2006. The older building was permanently closed to the public in 2015.
Opened in 1965, University Hall was the first truly modern building on Grounds, with its distinctive round, scalloped roof, made from 5,000 tons of concrete and sprayed on the inside with asbestos for soundproofing. This became a problem many years later when the roof started leaking and asbestos began flaking down on the by-then-abandoned seats.
While the implosion brought down the shell today, U-Hall did not come down all at once, in a minute or even a day. Crews from Renascent Inc., of Indianapolis, and Controlled Demolition Inc. of Phoenix, Maryland, have been working on it slowly, carefully dismantling and disassembling the iconic structure and its dependencies over the past semester. The asbestos abatement and cleaning started in January and took about three months. Then the crews tore down ancillary buildings Onesty Hall and The Cage before focusing their work on the main structure.
Between 90% and 95% of the material in the building is being recycled, according to Keith Payne, the project’s construction manager. The metals will be segregated and recycled; the concrete will be used as fill, some on site, to help level off the ground.
University Communications photographer Sanjay Suchak has been haunting U-Hall, documenting the controlled disintegration of Ralph’s House.
“It’s not often you get to document the dismantling of a major University landmark,” Suchak said. “The process of demolition is fascinating, and I am impressed with the scale of the project and the precision with which it was executed.”
Take a look at the demolition process through Suchak’s lens.
![Aerial view of Uhall before it is imploded](/sites/default/files/01_dji_0379_full_bleed.jpg)
![entrance 21, 20, and 19 blocked off with plastic and tape with a sign that warns of Asbestos](/sites/default/files/02u-hall_demo_ss_003_full_bleed.jpg)
![Gutted locker room in UHall](/sites/default/files/03u-hall_demo_ss_006_full_bleed.jpg)
![Big clear circle Lights in a trashcan](/sites/default/files/04u-hall_demo_ss_007_full_bleed.jpg)
![Metal Lockers with a towel hanging in one of them](/sites/default/files/05u-hall_demo_ss_009_full_bleed.jpg)
![little bob cats move debris on the UHall basketball court](/sites/default/files/06u-hall_demo_ss_010_full_bleed.jpg)
![Construction worker looking out of an announcers box in UHall at the demolition on the court](/sites/default/files/07u-hall_demo_ss_013_full_bleed.jpg)
![Looking up at the gutted UHall dome](/sites/default/files/08u-hall_demo_ss_022_full_bleed.jpg)
![Construction workers spraying down the inside of UHall before the implosion](/sites/default/files/09u-hall_demo_ss_026_full_bleed.jpg)
![Inside demolition of UHall with wires hanging from the ceiling and walls](/sites/default/files/10u-hall_demo_ss_036_full_bleed.jpg)
![Construction equipment tearing down a section of UHalls wall](/sites/default/files/11u-hall_demo_ss_038_full_bleed.jpg)
![Water standing inside of UHall reflects the ceiling and the walls that only have studs](/sites/default/files/12u-hall_demo_ss_039_full_bleed.jpg)
![Sparks falling from a construction worker working](/sites/default/files/13u-hall_demo_ss_055_full_bleed.jpg)
![Uhall air conditioner fans laying on floor](/sites/default/files/14u-hall_demo_ss_082_full_bleed.jpg)
![Burnt pieces of wood sit on the concrete steps](/sites/default/files/15u-hall_demo_ss_091_full_bleed.jpg)
![UHall demolition. Only poles and a few stands remain inside](/sites/default/files/16u-hall_demo_ss_094_full_bleed.jpg)
![Brown circles stuck to a piece of concrete](/sites/default/files/17u-hall_demo_ss_098_full_bleed.jpg)
![Backhoe working inside of UHall](/sites/default/files/18u-hall_demo_ss_108_full_bleed.jpg)
![Aerial view of UHall being imploded with dust and smoke coming out](/sites/default/files/2_digit_serial_number_implosion_ss_02_full_bleed.jpg)
![Aerial view of the Uhall implosion](/sites/default/files/2_digit_serial_number_implosion_ss_04_full_bleed.jpg)
![Standing piece of Uhalls wall](/sites/default/files/implosion_ss_12.jpg)
![](/sites/default/files/styles/video_16_9/public/university_hall_implosion_thumb.jpg?h=a92f03cd&itok=SCEeHEyY)
Ralph Sampson Remembers U-Hall
![](/sites/default/files/styles/video_16_9/public/university_hall_implosion_thumb.jpg?h=a92f03cd&itok=SCEeHEyY)
Video:Ralph Sampson Remembers U-Hall
Ralph Sampson Remembers U-Hall
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mkelly@virginia.edu (434) 924-7291
Article Information
July 26, 2024