UD to tear down Chaminade Hall. The University of Dayton begins the demolition process this week.

The University of Dayton is going to tear down Chaminade Hall, which has been mostly unused for more than a decade but once served as a dorm and later as the home to the school of education.

Debris removal began this week and demolition is expected to begin following spring graduation, UD officials said.

UD says it is still determining potential future plans for the site, but it will install pathways, benches and flowerbeds following removal.

“This decision has been a long time coming and was carefully and meticulously researched and analyzed,” UD officials said. “While there is no denying the long history of this building, from a facilities, financial, strategic and even safety lens this makes the most sense for the university.”

UD officials said that maintaining, renovating or repurposing the former home of UD’s school of education and health sciences would be very expensive. They also said the building’s interior is not a good fit for classroom or office spaces.

Chaminade Hall (between St. Marys Hall and the student union) was built in 1904. The 60,000-square-foot building has been mostly dormant since the school of education relocated to Fitz Hall in 2014.

Back in the 2017, UD leadership talked about potentially renovating Chaminade Hall to create community co-working spaces.