Brittanye Blake | The Valdosta Daily TimesValdosta State University Converse Hall demolition is on track to be finished by April. The finished product will be a landscaped green space.

VALDOSTA – A former Valdosta State University residence hall is being demolished after five years of sitting empty.

The demolition of Converse Hall began Sunday, Feb. 6; remaining interior items were removed in the weeks prior to prepare for it.

Jessica Pope, communications and media relations coordinator at VSU, said Converse Hall was chosen for demolition instead of renovation because its “structural system would not allow for interior space reconfiguration for any other use.”

Demolition is expected to finish by April with the finished product being unveiled as a landscaped green space.

This marks an end to a hall with more than a century of campus history.

The modern-day Converse Hall is one of two wings built in 1981 to replace the original Converse Hall that was destroyed by a fire in 1978.

The north wing of the modern-day Converse Hall was demolished in 2010 to pave the way for the Converse Hall academic building which houses the Departments of Human Services and Psychological Science, the graduate school and more.

Five years ago, the building was condemned leaving the building unusable for on-campus living.

Pope also said Brown, Lowndes and Patterson residence halls are designated as priorities for restroom renovations.