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Demolition Work Continues at Coltrane and Gardner Residence Halls on App State’s Campus; Area Will Become a Parking Lot

By Nathan Ham

Coltrane and Gardner residence halls on the campus of Appalachian State University are being demolished with work expected to be completed by December of this year. 

“The demolition of Gardner and Coltrane is part of Appalachian State’s ongoing major housing project that, when completed, will replace seven residence halls: Bowie, Coltrane, Eggers, Gardner, Winkler, Justice and East,” said Anna Oakes, Media Relations Specialist at Appalachian State. “The $191 million project will provide approximately 2,300 beds, including a net gain of 500 beds, in three phases, while also adding better, more efficient parking.”

The space where Gardner and Coltrane residence halls stand, will be turned into a surface parking lot. Right now, the exterior walls of the building are being removed and the demolition of the steel structure and the rest of the building will continue over the next several months. 

As part of the third and final phase of the new housing project at Appalachian, the last residence hall under construction is New River Hall. According to Oakes, pouring the concrete for foundations and footers began in February of this year. 

New River Hall will add an additional 750 beds and replaces Justice Hall that was demolished in the summer and fall of 2020. New River Hall should be open by August of 2022. 

The 640-bed Laurel Creek Hall will open on time for the start of the fall semester this year, which will complete the second phase of the student housing project that has been ongoing since February of 2019.

Gardner and Coletrane residential halls currently being demolished.
Artist renderings of how the residential halls will look once they are all completed by 2022.