Earlier this week we were in the mood for a crepe, and we decided that a visit was in order to the Creperie at Temple food truck on the 1200 block of Norris Street. On this lunch-seeking mission, we were unaware of two things. First, classes have started at Temple and the campus is now crawling with undergrads. Not such a big deal, but it made for a longer than expected line at the food truck. Perhaps more relevant for a real estate blog, we also noticed that Barton Hall is getting torn down.
Plans for the demolition of this building, constructed in 1959, have been in the works for some time. This makes us wonder why the demolition effort couldn't have happened over the summer, before the students came back to campus. For the next few weeks, as this building comes down, passing by will be rather unpleasant, between the noise and the dust. As it was, waiting on line for a crepe half a block away wasn't a treat.
According to the Temple News, a previous facilities plan called for a green space in place of a demolished Barton Hall. The new master plan states that a library will rise here instead. Design work will be done by Norway-based Snøhetta and Stantec, a local company. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2018. In the meantime, you don't have long to get one last look at Barton Hall. But if you ever experienced its depressing interior firsthand, maybe you don't need to go out of your way to say a final goodbye.