Half of history gone: Complete razing of Stokely Athletic Center expected by Oct.

Roughly half of Stokely Athletic Center is already gone and the rest of the historic arena is expected to be razed by October, University of Tennessee officials said Monday.

The demolition of the onetime basketball showpiece and the adjacent Gibbs Hall dormitory, which has already been leveled, will make way for a new residence hall, parking garage and football practice fields.

Crews have already begun installing drilling piers or footings for the new dormitory, said Bill Pace, a UT architect and the project manager for the site.

Sabre Demolition, a New York-based firm, has the $2.44 million contract to raze the buildings.

Stokely, which was first built as an armory field house in 1958 and then expanded in 1966, was the home to UT mens basketball during many of its glory years. Athletes lived next door in the attached Gibbs Hall, which was built in 1963.

Both the mens team and the Lady Vols moved to Thompson-Boling Arena in 1987, but athletes continued to live in the dorm until it closed in spring 2013.

Plans call for a 600-bed, coed residence hall on the east end of the site, a 1,000-space parking garage on Volunteer Boulevard and football practice fields a combined $100 million project that could be completed by 2016.

Stokely and Gibbs were first approved for demolition in July 2012.

The arena, on the corner of Volunteer and Lake Loudoun boulevards, was vacated more than a year ago as part of an agreement with the fire marshal because the gyms safety systems, including fire exit paths and sprinklers, were not up to code.

Before that, the universitys ROTC program used the facility and Athletics Department offices were housed in the bowels of the arena.

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Half of history gone: Complete razing of Stokely Athletic Center expected by Oct.