CLEARING SITE FOR DEMPSTER HALL BEGINS

The 800 block of North Henderson Street has become a buzz of construction activity, as bulldozers and other heavy equipment have begun clearing the site for the Dempster business building on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

Construction is on schedule for the new $15.8 million Dempster Hall of Business, according to David Garuvogl, construction manager for Sverdrup Facilities.

Sverdrup, headquartered in St. Louis, is overseeing the construction of the new building, slated for completion in the fall of 1996.

Crews are clearing the site, knocking down trees and destroying the parking lot behind the university's two ROTC buildings.

After the land has been cleared, asbestos will be removed from the old Department of Public Safety building and the Army and Air Force ROTC buildings before they are torn down.

"We hope to start the demolition in about a month," Grauvogl said, "but it'll take a couple of weeks to get the asbestos out."

The first building to go will be the public safety building so crews can begin the foundation work.

Grauvogl said the other buildings aren't as critical.

The hillside behind the buildings will also have to go to make room for the new business building.

This is to prepare for the laying of the foundation, which will begin when the excavation is complete.

State funding from the $250 million bond issue is paying for $12.3 million of the construction cost. The remaining $3.5 million will come from private donations.