Pammel Court duplexes, being torn down at a rate of 25 units per year, are scheduled to be history by the year 2000, university officials said.

Charles Frederiksen, director of residence, said the Pammel Court project “was not supposed to last more than 10 years, but the marriage rate among students continued to be high and demand for family housing grew.”

Pammel Court apartments were originally built as temporary housing for military men in the late 1940s, said Carlton Moen, director of university student apartments.

“They were relocated army barracks that were to be removed a few years after construction,” Moen said. “But the returning GIs brought marriage to the campus and we ended up needing the housing for a longer period of time.”

Pammel Court, once known as Veteran’s Housing, at one time consisted of more than 1,000 housing units. It was originally much larger but, South and East Pammel Courts have long since been removed. Only 130 two-bedroom duplexes in West Pammel Court remain.

The destruction of Pammel Courts has “been on the drawing board for 50 years,” Moen said. Hawthorn Court, Schilletter Village and University Village were constructed to replace Pammel Court, but need continued to increase.

“Originally, we started removing Pammel Court in sections, but we had to stop because there was a definite need for them,” Frederiksen said. “Through time, they’ve been upgraded and we’ve maintained them to accommodate new tenants.”

This semester there was a resurrected need for various Pammel Court units as some ISU students found themselves without university housing.

“At the beginning of the semester, we had about 40 apartments vacant and approximately that many graduate and undergraduates who needed temporary residence. Pammel Court filled that need nicely,” Moen said.

The removal of Pammel Court is now in its last stage. In the last several years, the married student enrollment has decreased and there is no longer a heavy need for the units.

Frederiksen said married students were 20 percent of the ISU population after World War II, but now they are only 13 percent of student enrollment.

“The Pammel Court duplexes are just not necessary considering how many student families want university housing,” he said.

In recent years the city of Ames has also constructed more apartment buildings.

The Pammel Court land will be set aside for office space.

“The long-range plan for the land calls for some support facilities to be located in the area,” Moen said. “There may be some offices moved there like environmental health or safety.”