Final demolition of Wichita State University’s Wheatshocker Apartments started Monday morning. As KMUW’s Sean Sandefur reports, the six-story building along 17th street has housed students for decades.
The Wheatshocker Apartments have seen wave after wave of students since 1965. On Monday, a wrecking ball chipped away section after section. Big chunks collapsed in clouds of dust and flying concrete.
The demolition is part of WSU’s plan for an Innovation Campus, a massive expansion that will include more than a dozen new buildings over the next 20 years.
The site of the Wheatshocker Apts. will contain a $37 million experiential engineering building. According to the university, the facility will house labs, offices and high-tech equipment for students, researchers and private-sector partners.
Construction is expected to begin next spring.
