The final pieces of the old UC Riverside Extension building came down last week as construction crews completed its demolition.

The 3.44-acre site will be developed into the SoCal OASIS™ Park, construction of which will start this summer. The park will serve as a hub for research and economic development with laboratories, startup space, and training facilities.

Demolition of the former UCR Extension Center began in November with the parking garage torn down first followed by some site cleanup work in February.

Demolition crews began taking down the building in April, using four excavators including one with a high-reach arm to break off pieces of the five-story, 123,657-square-foot building, said Dave Herren, a project superintendent with contractor Hensel-Phelps.

They sifted and sorted through the debris, separating steel and concrete to divert them to recycling or landfills.

UCR bought the property, previously a Holiday Inn hotel, in 1992 and converted it for UCR Extension use. It was originally built in 1968 and expanded with a garage and additional hotel space in 1985.

UCR Extension formally moved out of the building to its new leased space at University Village in 2022 but had effectively stopped working there in March 2020 when the pandemic began and it shifted to remote work and programs. The new park will include office and classroom space for UCR Extension.