By Kelly Kim Miller
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A brand new Student Success Center will replace the old School of Social Work building on campus. Last Thursday, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Silas Hunt Memorial to celebrate the Student Success Center project. Students and faculty surrounded the already packed tent to listen
“This is a transformational project that I firmly believe will pay huge dividends for many decades to come. Hundreds and eventually thousands of students will be retained that might have otherwise dropped out,” Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said.
However, another building must meet its end before construction on the new Student Success Center can begin. This building that was formerly known as the School of Social Work. The building is so old that students and faculty at the School of Social work were unsure of its history, but Charlie Alison,
It was one of six buildings were built that year and in 2019, only three of those buildings remain. These buildings are the Agricultural Annex, the Inn at Carnall Hall, and the former School of Social work building. As one of the oldest buildings on campus, this won’t be the first time that it faces demolition.
In 1925, the University hired an architecture firm out of St. Louis, Jameson and Spurl, that drafted a master plan of what the University campus would eventually come to look like. It called for all of the older structures to be removed because it didn’t fit with the plan.
“Up until that point, buildings had been erected on campus in sort of a…makeshift…ad-
Jameson and Spurl designed many of the buildings on campus during the 1920s including the Agricultural building, the Chemistry building, Vol Walker Hall, and Gearheart. However, Alison said that this building spree slowed down because there just wasn’t enough money to follow through with tearing down and replacing every building.
“One of the buildings that would have been torn down was Old Main and I guess we’re really lucky that the full weight of the Master Plan wasn’t really active–else we would have lost a really beautiful building.”
Since the year it opened in 1906, the building has served the campus community in several ways. It first served as a chemistry and physics building. It went on to house the School of Law, the Geography and Psychology departments, and then became a student support services building right before the School of Social Work moved in. “Sort of like what the student success center is going to be,” said Alison. “A lot of former students and alumni have fond memories of that building.”
There is no set date for the demolition. Dan Clairmont, director of engineering and facilities management, said that preliminary work has already begun and urges students to respect the construction area for their own safety.
“The demolition will start probably early October–right now we are waiting for them to complete the abatement on the paint on the exterior of the building,” said Clairmont. According to Clairmont, this is an important task because there is lead in the paint and it needs to be disposed of safely before they can start.
The new Student Success Center project is scheduled to be done by 2022. Next to it is the already erected Silas Hunt Memorial. Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said that the Success Center project’s proximity to the memorial holds great significance to him.
“Because while he was accepted, he was not welcomed, he was not encouraged, he was not embraced, he was not made to feel part of the campus or this great community. We can and will do better by our students. Whoever they are and wherever they come from. We accepted them into this great university and we will do everything in our power to make them successful. The student success center will be a direct manifestation of this great commitment,” Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said.