Congregation Hall is going to be demolished

Congregation Hall is to be demolished in a new campus refurbishment programme.

The plans to scrap everyone’s favourite concrete jungle were announced in a statement by Vice Chancellor Professor David Richardson.

In the statement, the Chancellor outlined the “UEA Vision 2030” scheme to redevelop and create a better connected campus.

He said: “2016 can be a transformational moment for UEA.

“It will be a moment when we can work together to deliver a vision for UEA that has emerged from our collective discussions and that will secure our future, both reputationally and financially.”

Congo Hall will become one of the latest UEA buildings to bite the dust – and plans will also include the CD Annex and the Blackdale Building.

The demolition fits with UEA’s plans to redevelop some of the older parts of campus, which so far has seen improvements to the LCR and Earlham Hall.

Work on the refurbishment is planned to start at the end of this academic year and will be completed by 2018.

It will include a new academic building dedicated to Social Sciences, which is estimated to cost a whopping £30 million.

The new Congregation Hall will benefit from investment in technology and infrastructure in an attempt to breathe life into the venue that holds some of UEA’s most exciting lectures and most heart-breaking exams.

Professor Richardson says: “The campus we develop will support technology-enhanced learning at all levels of the University, from courses that are wholly online to active learning classrooms with digital educational resources embedded into the curricula.”

Along with the untimely death of Congregation Hall, the UEA Vision 2030 will see the extension of the Thomas Paine Study Centre.

Despite claiming to have consulted students and staff over the demolition of Congregation Hall, many have been left wondering where the University will find space for lectures, exams and societies whilst the building work is taking place.

Undergraduate Education Officer Connor Rand said: “We have big concerns both in relation to already stretched day time tables and vital space for Clubs and Socs in the evening.

“We’ve already called on the Uni to ensure there is an obvious way for students to input on planning and space issues to help avoid the sort of problems we’re seeing over expansion and room availability this year and will continue to do so.”

Drama students will also be disappointed after having their recent application to turn Congo Hall into a second venue for their productions denied by the University.

While a petition has been created to move the location of graduation to Norwich Cathedral as of this year, it seems unlikely that this will go ahead in time for summer 2016.

There has been no confirmation on where future graduations will take place but for current third years, it looks like they’ll still be celebrating their time at UEA in the Congregation Hall.