There’s not much left of Scobey Hall.

The 43,687 square-foot building that sits on the far west edge of the South Dakota State University’s campus, is in the process of being demolished after sitting vacant since 2017.

The demolition will be complete by mid-July, and after that, landscaping work will transform the construction site into a green space.

David Law, director of project management & engineering for SDSU, said the project has been going smoothly and he anticipates the rest of the demolition to stay that way.

Scobey Hall needed major improvements, to remain a viable building on campus.

The demolition site started to be prepped May 9, with the installation of fencing and mobilization of machinery, and the demolition started in late May. 

“The long term-plan is that it’ll just be green space. In fact, we plan to plant multiple new trees, so it’ll be upgrading the space,” Law said.

The demolition has been in the works since February 2019, when the South Dakota Board of Regents passed House Bill 1038, which gave SDSU the approval needed to demolish the 82-year-old building.

“This project includes demolition, abatement of asbestos and other such hazardous materials, disposal of fixtures or rubble, and any other action reasonably necessary to restore the site to grade,” the 2019 HB 1038 states.

Scobey Hall has been a part of the SDSU campus since 1940. When the building was first built, it was called West Men’s Hall and was a men’s dormitory for agriculture and the mechanic arts.

In 1973 the building switched from being a dorm to housing several classrooms and academic departments until its closing in 2017. The departments housed there included the Department of Economics and the Department of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies. 

The department of economics has since moved to a renovated Harding Hall, while the department of psychology, sociology and rural studies relocated to the Agricultural Engineering building.