Demolition of Oglebay Hall Annex on West Virginia Universitys Downtown Campus is scheduled to begin Friday, Aug. 9, weather permitting. WVU officials will mark the occasion with a ceremony at 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, in which several University officials will”assist”work crews as they begin razing the two-story, wooden structure.

The demolition is expected to take just one day to complete, said Steve Turner, WVU Physical Plant project manager. It will take another two-to-four days to haul away the materials. Once that work is completed, the area will be graveled and used for additional parking, Turner said. Huffman Corp. of Bridgeport has the contract for the demolition work. Total cost of the project, which includes demolition and site preparation work, is around $95,000.

Demolition of the 69-year-old structure is the first step in the Universitys plan to upgrade historic Oglebay Hall. WVU officials say once the renovations have been completed, Oglebay will house several departments in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

The Oglebay Hall renovation is part of WVU s facilities master plan, a 10-year campus renewal program totaling more than $250 million. Tentative plans call for the work to be completed by spring 2005.