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ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — A college hall in Oregon where a mass shooting took place last year is set to be demolished in October.
The demolition of Umpqua (um-quaw) Community College's Snyder Hall is scheduled to begin the week of Oct. 17, more than a year after the shooting, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported (https://is.gd/ScUbrp). A new building is expected to be ready for classes by next fall.
The college closed the building of classrooms and offices after Chris Harper Mercer killed nine people and injured nine others at Snyder Hall before dying in a shootout with police Oct. 1, 2015.
On Friday the college held a moment of silence for the one-year anniversary of the shooting.
A 16-member panel of students, teachers and others started meeting in November to consider options for the building. The committee wanted Snyder Hall to look different but remain part of the campus.
Anne Marie Levis, a college spokeswoman, said the college had decided to hire Andersen Construction, a company that recently completed the school's new health, nursing and science building, to build the new Snyder Hall.
Lawmakers have approved $6 million to replace Snyder Hall and improve security across campus. The rebuild is estimated at $4.2 million.
Part of that funding will go to create a meditative garden, which will occupy the ground of classrooms 15 and 16 where the shooting happened
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
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