More than five years after some of the University of Iowa campus was overcome by floodwaters, officials will begin the process of taking down old Hancher Auditorium today to make way for a new facility.

At 6 a.m. today, construction crews will begin pouring the project’s single-largest concrete pour at 1,400 cubic yards. At 9 a.m., a wrecking ball will begin dismantling the original Hancher facility, according to a UI press release.

Officials will also participate in an emergency preparedness and safety drill after noon on Monday at the site of the crane being used for the new Hancher facility.

Much of Hancher was shut down by floodwaters that exceeded stage level in June 2008. The Hancher/Voxman/Clapp complex should be demolished by the end of the year, following several delays over the years. Officials began and completed the asbestos abatement of the old facility this summer.

Charles Swanson, the Hancher executive director, previously told The Daily Iowan that the new facility comes at the right time.

“It ended up being a real positive end,” Swanson told the DI in the summer. “The old building was very tired, had been great to close to 40 years in spite of the flood. There would’ve been a lot of other things that we would’ve had to of done to bring the original building into the 21st century.”

Hancher’s replacement has a projected completion date of May 2016, with the old facility being demolished by January 2014.

—  by Kristen East