Arkansas Tech University is moving forward with a planned demolition of Critz Hall on its Russellville campus during summer 2019.
Constructed in 1950 at a cost of $116,000, Critz Hall has served ATU as a residence hall and office building during its nearly seven decades of existence.
It was determined during the campus master planning process of 2016-17 that Critz Hall had reached the end of its effective lifespan and that it would be taken offline at the end of the spring 2019 semester.
Preparations to demolish the building began on Friday, May 24, and demolition is taking place during June.
Critz Hall was dedicated in November 1950 in honor and memory of Hugh Critz (photographed), who served as president at Arkansas Tech from 1918-24.
His leadership allowed the institution to recover from low enrollment during World War I and transition from an agricultural high school to a two-year college. He later served as president at Mississippi State University from 1930-34 and died in 1939 at the age of 62.
