AUSTIN, Texas — Demolition is underway for the Frank Erwin Center.
Feb. 28, 2022, was the last time a Texas Longhorns basketball game was held in "The Drum," marking an end to decades of basketball games and concerts. The arena goes back to 1977.
On Monday, construction crews worked on the demolition. Spawglass is the general contractor working with the University of Texas at Austin to take the building down piece by piece instead of imploding it.
“We felt it was the safest method due to the proximity of I-35 frontage road, the hospital is on the west side of the road and just the sheer proximity downtown,” project manager Parker Blaschke said.
As part of the demolition, 4,000 tons of steel and 135,000 tons of concrete will be coming down and recycled. Blashkey said construction started removing the roof first. Crews are now working to take down the panels and other parts of the building.
"Overall, we estimate 80% of the building will be recycled," Blaschke said.
Demolition is expected to be done by the fall.
"Every time you bring up the Erwin Center, someone has a memory great story tell about an event they saw there," Dan Cook, UT's executive director of planning, design and construction, said.
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The Longhorns now play basketball at the state-of-the-art Moody Center. Concerts are also held at the arena, which opened a couple of years ago.
“Hopefully, some of those same stories are now being told after folks come out of the Moody Center," Cook said.
Once demolition of the Frank Erwin Center is complete, the site will be home to a medical facility.
"Frees up that site expansion of Dell Medical School and partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center. We are working with them and the UT system," Cook said. "Being able to have that world-class facility delivers the care that as the city of Austin in growing the population will continue to need great medical care, it seems like it’s a real win-win."