July 16, 2003

VCU razes Randolph-Minor Hall to make room for Massey Cancer Center

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By Michael Ford
University News Services

Demolition has begun on Randolph-Minor Hall to make way for a new $29.7 million state-of-the-art research addition for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center.

Once the demolition is completed in three weeks, the site will be cleared, excavated and readied for the new 60,000 square-foot five-story addition to the cancer center featuring three floors for research laboratories and staff offices, a two-level parking deck and healing garden for cancer patients and staff. Construction is expected to be completed in March, 2005.

Massey Cancer Center is one of only two National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in Virginia and one of only 61 NCI-designated centers in the U.S. The new research addition is part of a larger strategy to position MCC as Virginia’s first comprehensive cancer center, the highest designation awarded by the National Cancer Institute.

The new addition will allow MCC to expand the type of research it conducts and attract and retain top cancer researchers. The new labs will be configured to encourage collaboration across scientific disciplines and promote development of ideas for new and better cancer treatments, prevention and ultimately cures.

Beginning of the End. A demolition team, for Skanska USA Building, Inc., uses an excavation tool equipped with a grappling attachment to take the “first bite” out of Randolph-Minor Hall.
Beginning of the End. A demolition team, for Skanska USA Building, Inc., uses an excavation tool equipped with a grappling attachment to take the “first bite” out of Randolph-Minor Hall.


Out With the Old. More than three-dozen staffers and faculty at the VCU Medical Center gathered on the sidewalk along East Marshall Street to watch the demolition of Randolph-Minor Hall, including Capt. Grant Warren, director of security for VCU and the VCU Health System (left foreground), Joe Mannix, project manager, Department of Facilities and Management and Tony Mustain, assistant professor and administrator for the Department of Radiation Oncology.
Out With the Old. More than three-dozen staffers and faculty at the VCU Medical Center gathered on the sidewalk along East Marshall Street to watch the demolition of Randolph-Minor Hall, including Capt. Grant Warren, director of security for VCU and the VCU Health System (left foreground), Joe Mannix, project manager, Department of Facilities and Management and Tony Mustain, assistant professor and administrator for the Department of Radiation Oncology.


First 15 Minutes. Chunks of brick and debris rain down from the first corner targeted by the demolition team, who will spend two to three weeks to bring down the building. Water was used to wet Randolph-Minor and subsequent debris to limit the amount of dust in the area. Photos by Michael Ford, University News Services
First 15 Minutes. Chunks of brick and debris rain down from the first corner targeted by the demolition team, who will spend two to three weeks to bring down the building. Water was used to wet Randolph-Minor and subsequent debris to limit the amount of dust in the area. Photos by Michael Ford, University News Services