Eastside demolition starts in final phase of regeneration of Prince’s Gardens

The Rector takes sledgehammer to Linstead Hall - <em>News</em>

Wednesday 1 August 2007
By Naomi Weston

The demolition of Linstead Hall commenced on Monday 30 July and is the final stage of the Prince’s Gardens regeneration programme at the College.

The Rector, Sir Richard Sykes, started the work by knocking down a door with a sledgehammer at a special Eastside demolition ceremony. The event was attended by senior members of the College, staff from Laing O'Rourke, who are carrying out the work, students and past wardens of the Hall.

"This is a very special day," commented the Rector, "the work on Southside is an enormous success and the work on Eastside is critical for a residential university. We have almost completed our objective to redevelop the square that surrounds Prince’s Gardens - Ethos was completed in 2006, Southside will be completed before the start of term this year and the Eastside project is the final stage of this development."

The new accommodation that will replace Linstead Hall will be bigger, with room for 430 students. There will be three separate halls in place rather than one and nearly all of the rooms will be single with en suite, reflecting what modern students want. In addition it will also house a shop and a café bar on the ground floor. The work is due to be completed by September 2009.

Jason Curtis, Project Leader at Laing O’Rourke, commented: "Working on Eastside will be a challenge as it is much more complicated to build. We used new technology building Southside and this time round we will recreate that but we need to find new and better ways of construction."

Dr Richard Clarke, a Reader in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, was Warden at Linstead Hall from 1985-90 and was joined by his wife Cecille. At the ceremony Dr Clarke commented: "We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Linstead Hall. We lived on the top floor and we held parties every Friday night where students could drop in as and when they wanted." He added: "Christmas was a great time of year there, we used to have an annual dinner at the end of the first term which was often a special silver service dinner which the students loved."

Linstead Hall was first built in 1967 and then extended in 1980. The original construction was funded by an anonymous benefactor in 1963 who stipulated that dining facilities must be made available for male residents at the College.

Originally known as New Hall, it was named Linstead Hall after Sir Patrick Linstead, who was Rector responsible for obtaining the land on Princes Gardens for student accommodation. His vision was to ensure that every student should have the opportunity of spending a year in a hall of residence.

Watch a video of the demolition ceremony