New residential facility replaces asbestos riddled Minton Hall at UCAConway, Arkansas - Construction of an $18 million, 120,000-square-foot residential facility on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway is slated to begin on December 17th. The new five-story facility will replace Minton Hall, which has been closed for three years due to the presence of asbestos. This toxic mineral was used regularly in construction and insulation throughout the 19th and 20th century. However, its use was banned in the United States in the late 1980’s, when it became widely known that asbestos causes asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the body’s major organs and cavities.
The new dorm will not only provide a space for 385 beds, but will also include three seminar rooms, two apartments, a large lobby area, a kitchen and laundry and study rooms. This project is being funded through a bond issue that will also be used for renovation work on the additional halls. The athletic department for the construction of 12 20-person skyboxes collected an additional $2.2 million on the facility's fifth floor, as the building will be located behind the visitor's stands at Estes stadium. The boxes will have private entrances, reserved parking and a separate lobby and elevators. They will be leased at a cost of $25,000 a year and a 10-year commitment is required. According to Brad Teague, athletic director at UCA, eight boxes have already been committed.
No comments were made as to whether Minton Hall will now be demolished. However, before that can happen the asbestos must be abated. Demolition without first removing asbestos puts everyone on campus at risk of inhaling carcinogenic asbestos fibers and developing pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs and abdomen. There is no mesothelioma cure.
