UT Austin provides inside look at Frank Erwin Center demo

Frank Erwin Center tear down halfway complete

One of the biggest demolition projects right now is happening at the University of Texas. The tear down at the Erwin Center is about halfway done, and FOX 7 got an inside look at the project.

AUSTIN, Texas - The tear down is still going on at what was UT’s Erwin Center.

On Friday, Dan Cook, UT’s Executive Director of Planning, Design and Construction provided an update.

"It's sad to see this great building go because we know that it's been such an important part of the city, to the families, to the community with lots of memories and sentiment associated with it," said Cook.

The arena hardly resembles its iconic rounded shape, which provided its nickname "The Drum." The $25 million project started back in August 2023 after a decision was made not to blow it up.

MORE: UT Austin's Frank Erwin Center demolition underway

UT has had implosions before, like an office building in 2018, and a parking garage a year later. Both required street closures and left a lot of dust.

Some implosions don’t work out, like what happened in 2007 with the unfinished Intel building in downtown Austin. When the dust cloud cleared, it revealed the building didn’t crumble as expected. The Erwin Center project is not as disruptive and more precise.

"Really reverse engineering the building. The demolition has been in a very controlled, methodical way of taking the building apart, essentially in reverse order from the way that it was built," said Cook.

UT Austin's Frank Erwin Center

The process has also provided a few curtain calls, according to project manager Parker Blaschke with SpawGlass Construction.

"You walk into some of these buildings or the rooms now. And there was an old Southwest Conference mural on one of the walls. And, you know, it was in one of the storage rooms at the very bottom arena level was one that kind of sticks out to me," said Blaschke.

The demo project is also a research project.

"One of the things that we're really proud of with this project is that over 80% of the materials are being recycled. And we actually have one of our professors here at UT is studying that to determine the quality of the material that leaves the site, so that we can learn better, that when we do future demolition projects, how do we do it so that we can maximize the recycling content as it leaves the site," said Cook.

Frank Erwin Center demolition underway

This time next year, another Austin landmark will be gone. Demolition of UT's Frank Erwin Center is underway, and FOX 7 got an exclusive look inside the massive project.

A basketball goal is one of the last items still intact on site. It, as well as items like old stadium chairs, will not be trashed.

"The university does have a reuse store at the pickle campus. And quite a bit of the material from here that could be salvaged was taken to the resale store and was available for sale. There may be a few items left that haven't been there lately, but that could be our option. We could go put it up for bid to the public if anybody was interested," said Cook.

FOX 7 was told the project is currently under budget and a little ahead of schedule. Engineering for the removal of the steel superstructure is underway. That demo work is expected to start by this summer.

Demolition is expected to be completed by September. The site is to be part of UT's new medical complex.