Miller Hall to be demolished for tunnel plan

Renovations to subterranean steam tunnels crisscrossing campus are costing the University tens of millions and causing a major headache.

To make things a little easier, the school is going to demolish Miller Hall, which houses the Institute for the Environment.

On Wednesday, UNC’s Board of Trustees approved the building’s destruction. The tunnel project’s contractor offered to do the job free of charge to help ease renovation of the tunnel running through the lot, an offer that will save the school $100,000.

The University is in the final phases of the renovations. The current concluding steps will cost $28 million, and the project as a whole is on schedule to end in the summer of 2011.

The tunnel runs from the UNC Cogeneration Facility to campus and houses pipes that provide steam services — which include heating, cooling, sterilization, distilling water and making hot water — to the school and UNC Hospitals.

UNC Construction Manager Jeff Kidd said the tunnel, built in 1939, has fallen into disrepair.

Phil Barner, the cogeneration systems manager, said the tunnel was in great danger of failing in several places.

“They may have wanted it to last 100 years, but it just hasn’t,” he said. “It’s enough of a threat that we knew we needed to replace it.”

The tunnel that the school wants to renovate runs underneath Pittsboro Street. Miller Hall — built in 1942 — sits on the corner of Pittsboro and McCauley streets.

“Miller Hall is really small, very old, very tired, and we’re running this line that’s planned to go around three sides of the building,” said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning.

He added that the University planned to tear down Miller Hall anyway, since it wasn’t a part of the long-term plan for the Carolina Inn property next door.

The Institute for the Environment will be relocated to rental space on Rosemary Street, said Runberg, who added that the Miller Hall space will be turned into a parking lot for the inn.

Linda Convissor, director of UNC local relations, said the project’s engineering crew is currently deciding how to approach the Pittsboro Street portion of the tunnel. At minimum, the sidewalks on Pittsboro will be closed when that section of the pipeline is being worked on.

Tunnel renovation currently requires Ransom Street to be closed while crews dig a 50-foot-wide trench down a strip of University-owned land that runs through the Cameron-McCauley neighborhood. It is on track to reopen in mid-December.

Convissor said Ransom Street residents have mixed feelings about the construction.

“They’re not happy, but I think most of them realize this has to be done,” she said.

The University sends weekly e-mail updates to residents affected by the construction as a “token of appreciation” and as a means of keeping people informed, Convissor said.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.