Implosion of Zumbiel Marks Beginning of Xavier Square
Xavier, Norwood and Evanston communities to benefit from “college town” development
03/14/08
The morning of Saturday, March 22, marks the beginning of a new chapter for Xavier University and the communities of Norwood and Evanston.
At approximately 8:00 A.M. the former Zumbiel Packaging Plant on Cleneay Avenue will be imploded. The implosion, which will last just four seconds, is to make room for Xavier Square, a 20-acre extension of the University campus which will include a new fitness club, health center, student housing and student bookstore as well as restaurants, a hotel, office space and shopping.
A website with information about all of Xavier’s construction projects is scheduled to go live on Wednesday, March 19. Please visit www.xavier.edu/construction.
Several streets in the area will be closed at following intersections for a short period of time prior to the implosion and shortly after the implosion. Cincinnati and Norwood police will determine when safety requires that the streets be closed. The streets are:
· Cleneay at Montgomery
· Lexington at Montgomery
· Dana from Montgomery to Idlewild.
· Side streets between Montgomery to Idlewild (Brooks, Clarion, Newton, Idlewild)
· Herald Avenue at the Bellarmine Circle on Xavier’s campus
Montgomery Road will NOT be closed.
The area will be reopened once it has been determined that the demolition site is safe and secured.
Bob Sheeran, associate vice president for facility management, says the implosion will not be as dramatic as other local implosions, including Riverfront Stadium and Sander Hall, a University of Cincinnati residence hall. Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) of Phoenix, Maryland will handle the implosion. CDI has coordinated such implosions as the Seattle Kingdome and the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.
Demolition of other buildings on the Zumbiel site is already underway. Sheeran says steel and concrete being removed from the plant is being recycled. “All the steel, even what we find buried in the concrete, is being cut into small pieces and taken to AK Steel in Middletown for recycling,” he says. “The concrete will be hauled out by trucks to be ground up and recycled for aggregate.” Nearly 300 tons of steel has already been recycled.
J&L Management Corporation of Mt. Clemens, MI is handling the removal of the materials, a process which will take 2-3 months. Site preparation will take place over the next year with actual groundbreaking expected towards the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009.
“We are thrilled to finally get this project underway,” says Michael Graham, S.J., president of Xavier University. “Both the University and our neighboring communities, Norwood and Evanston, have been working together a very long time for the opportunity to bring this type of revitalization to our neighborhood. It will help us attract students, home owners, business owners and visitors from all over the city and the country.”
Xavier is partnering with Corporex Companies, the local development company responsible for the renaissance of the Covington riverfront, The Ascent at Roebling’s Bridge and the $1 billion Ovation mixed use project in Newport, to develop Xavier Square which consists of about 20 acres. Development of Xavier Square will be privately funded.
The development of Xavier Square is part of a larger campus master plan that is focused on improving the academic quality of the Xavier University campus. A separate project, which will take place on the existing University campus, includes construction of the James E. Hoff Academic Quadrangle. The Hoff Quad, named in honor of the former Xavier President and Chancellor who died in 2004, includes construction of a new facility for Xavier’s Williams College of Business and a multi-faceted Learning Commons that will create a one-stop shop of integrated academic, technical and professional services for students and faculty.
Fundraising for the Hoff Quad project is part of the University’s $200 million “To See Great Wonders” capital campaign, which began in September 2006. In addition to the Quad, dollars raised will be allocated to the University’s annual fund, University endowment, endowed professorships and student scholarships. The construction on a new Williams College of Business, the first phase of the Hoff Academic Quad, is expected to begin in May 2008.
For more information on the Quad go to www.xavier.edu/greatwonders.
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