Light Stands Set To Come Down At Tucker

Cranes arrived at Tucker Stadium and the demolition of the light towers underway as the stadium’s west side ready for demolition.

Tech Athletic Director Mark Wilson said the asbestos and lead abatement just about complete. Tech’s Football teams plays its first two games on the road, beginning Saturday at Middle Tennessee State.

“It’s been a long project that we’ve talked about since I arrived here in 2004,” Wilson said. “Then when Dr. (Phil) Oldham became president we really started planning for it back in like 2013, so here we are 11 years later it’s finally coming to fruition.”

Wilson said they are using the same contractor that is handling the demolition of Foster Hall across campus. Wilson said the contractor estimated two months from the start of abatement until the demolition is completely finished.

“But there’s a variety of factors that impact that,” Wilson said. “How long does it them to clean up the site at Foster Hall, how long does it take to abate, and then we will see that start to come down and we will do some type of announcement when they start to take it down piece-by-piece like they did Foster Hall.”

Wilson said after abatement they will remove the light poles on the west side of the stadium with a large crane to prepare for the main portion of the demolition work.

“There’s a possibility that they’ll take the press box off in one piece and then demolish that on the ground,” Wilson said. “They don’t 100 percent know until you actually get in there and begin taking it down,” Wilson said.

Wilson said work on the stadium will continue after demolition is completed, with construction on the new section of the stadium expected to begin in November or December.

“That’s why the construction fence is isolated,” Wilson said. “There’ll be no fans or anybody allowed in that area and it’s all been designed so we can continue to run practices and games there while construction is going on.”