Returning students will find that a longtime Kansas University building has been demolished.

Lindley Annex, just south of Lindley Hall, was leveled June 22.

The annex was built as a military cafeteria during World War II and was moved to KU in 1947.

“It’s been ‘temporary’ since it was put up,” said Jim Modig, director of design and construction management at KU.

KU officials have wanted to knock the building down for almost a decade but didn’t have new spaces for the architecture studios that met in the annex.

That changed when Eaton Hall and an addition to the Baehr Audio-Reader Center were constructed. Departments moving into those buildings freed up space in Snow Hall and the former Kansas Public Radio Building – now called Marvin Studios – for the architecture classes.

Modig said there were no problems with the demolition, which cost the university about $48,400, including asbestos removal.

“It’s a wood structure,” he said. “It’s fairly easy (to demolish), compared to concrete and steel.”

Crews began work this summer to turn the space into a parking lot.