University of Iowa Spent $3.4 Million (and Counting) to Preserve Vacant Hancher Complex Destined for Demo

One of the tragic losses of the June 2008 flood was University of Iowa's beloved Hancher Auditorium.

Shortly after the historic flood caused an estimated $1 billion in damages to campus, university officials announced the complex was forever destroyed. It would come down and they would rebuild anew with the promise of federal disaster aid.

What comes next will leave many people scratching their heads.

Because of federal "direction and requirements," UI officials have continued to heat, dehumidify and maintain a vacant building destined for demolition while awaiting the signal to take it down.

Just this week, officials announced it had finally received the green light in the form of $6.7 million from Federal Emergency Management Agency to demolish the Hancher-Voxman-Clapp complex, along with Art Building East, likely later this year. 

From mid-2008 to the present, the university has spent $3.4 million -- and counting, due to continuing dehumidification -- to preserve the empty Hancher building. Nearly all of that will be reimbursed to the university through FEMA, UI spokesman Tom Moore said.

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