University of Iowa Raze Hancher Demolition

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The 2008 floods in Iowa City devastated many University of Iowa campus buildings along the Iowa River. Many locals, including Shive-Hattery employees, assisted in sandbagging and flood prevention efforts during the floods. Unfortunately, despite preventative measures, the historic, 125,000-square-foot multi-story Hancher Auditorium, a major University of Iowa building, experienced significant damage along with Voxman School of Music and Clapp Recital Hall, which were attached to the auditorium at the time. With rows of seats submerged under water, the 40-year old auditorium was needing to be completely rebuilt from the ground up.

Shive-Hattery was selected to provide design services for the complete building demolition, traffic and parking modifications during construction, utility disconnections and modifications, and site restoration of the 8-acres of disturbed area to plan for future phases of building construction and staging areas.

The demolition required the team to think ahead to the future reconstruction of Hancher Auditorium and was phase one of a series of future projects funded by FEMA. The project required extensive phasing and coordination efforts to properly prepare for future construction. During building demolition, adjacent parking lots and access around the site needed to remain open and disrupted as many University employees utilize these parking lots daily.

Underground utilities were removed to locations where future phases of construction could easily reconnect service lines. Underground building foundations were removed as needed if they conflicted with future construction. The demolition design provided a well-thought out finished site layout that helped the University stay within budget and save time for the future phases of construction.

Shive-Hattery was also part of the design team for the future construction phases of Hancher Auditorium and provided design services that keep the projects on budget and on schedule. The bids for the demolition project were successfully received and included numerous bids under project budget. The new Hancher Auditorium opened in 2016 and continues to play an important role on the University of Iowa campus.