Several Ball State University students who live on Marsh Street and Neely Avenue have to find new places to live because the university is demolishing their houses to make room for North Residence Hall.
A demolition crew tore down five houses as of Monday afternoon and three more will be demolished by Friday, said Jim Lowe, director of engineering and operations. Randy Howard, associate vice president of finance and assistant treasurer, said Ball State owns all eight houses, and their demolition costs $52,498.
Ball State purchased or signed purchasing agreements with all but one of the owners of the houses that are in the construction zone for the residence hall, Howard said. The university should be finalizing the purchase agreement with the owner of the last house in the near future, he said.
"It's a very friendly negotiation," Howard said.
Ball State owns most of the houses that are being demolished, Howard said, but students occupy most of the houses that the university doesn't own.
"What we're doing in that case is we're letting the tenants stay until the end of the lease," Howard said. "Luckily all the leases end at the end of the [school] year. I don't know if we just got lucky or the leases are just a year lease."
The remaining houses should be demolished by the end of the summer, he said.
"By and large individuals have been supportive of the university," Howard said. "It can be an emotional event if it's a house you've owned for a long time, but the university has been offering a good price."
John Hill, landlord and Ball State director of the College Transition Program, owned one of the houses set to be demolished, he said. Ball State approached Hill last summer about the house, which had belonged to his parents, and he agreed to sell it last fall, he said.
"Obviously I didn't want to sell it, but I have no choice," Hill said. "I don't want to stop the progress of the school. I respect what they're doing."
Hill rented the house to his daughter and niece as well as other tenants, he said.
Natalie Swedenberg, a Ball State student and one of Hill's tenants, has lived there for three years and doesn't want to move, she said.
"They gave me enough time to find a place by August, but it's kind of an inconvenience when I planned on staying here," she said.
Ball State doesn't have any plans specifically designed for helping the residents find a new place to live besides what is already offered, Howard said. Every resident's lease ends in the summer, so they would have to find a place to live regardless of the demolition, he said.
"We didn't kick anybody out in the middle of their lease," Howard said.
Swedenberg and one of her three roommates are still looking for a new place to live, she said.
"I'm without a house. I would expect if Ball State took a house I would get something; somewhere to live," Swedenberg said.
Loew said North Hall's construction is set to begin spring or late summer 2008. The 600-occupant residence hall is set to open in 2010, he said.
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