PA has initiated plans to tear down Eastman House, a former student and faculty boarding house on campus. According to Stefan Csigay, Capital Project Manager, its ultimate goal is to dismantle the building at some point this coming November. The administration decided to demolish the building a few years ago. As of right now, the school is still reviewing price quotes from different contractors. Once the administration selects the most appealing plan, PA plans to begin the destruction process. According to Mr. Csigay, Eastman House will be dismantled because the building has deteriorated to the point where paying for its upkeep and maintenance is no longer a worthwhile investment. Mr. Csigay said, “The older buildings have gotten to the point where it is no longer feasible to keep them up to standard.” PA has recently acquired property at 221 Main Street, a new complex of five condominiums, located past Moses Stuart House on the west side of Main Street. With the new condominium complex, PA has no need to renovate the deteriorated Eastman House. One of the building’s most significant structural problems are the outer walls of the house, which are in “pretty bad shape” according to Mr. Csigay. Eastman House is located near the parking lot off of Highland Road, between the Borden Gymnasium and Benner House. It is a large, gray-painted, three -story house. The building was named after Ira A. Eastman, who originally owned the building and sold it to Phillips Academy around 1900. Eastman House was originally constructed around 1890 as a boarding house. When Phillips Academy bought the building, it initially used it as a dormitory for students. Later, the building became a faculty residence. At one point it also served as housing for Commons staff. In the 1980’s, Eastman House underwent two thorough renovations and was redesigned into three faculty houses. The building housed three separate faculty families until this past spring, when they moved out. The deconstruction process is expected to last two or three days. The chosen company will complete the work with a backhoe, a machine with a hydraulic arm and shovel at the end, which pulls material towards the machine. According to Mr. Csigay, the machine will simply tear down pieces of the building from top to bottom until the whole structure is gone. The debris will then be sorted into recyclable and non-recyclable groups. The deconstruction should have normal ramifications for the surrounding buildings. According to Mr. Csigay the construction period may be noisy, dusty, and loud, but he expects nothing out of the ordinary.
