Raleigh, N.C. — Some North Carolina State University students hope to stop the demolition of a landmark on campus.

Riddick Field House, which was built in 1936, was once the focal point of N.C. State football, along with adjacent Riddick Field. That ended when Carter-Finley Stadium opened in the 1960s.

Riddick Field was paved over years ago, and the bleachers where football fans once sat were later dismantled. Now, university officials say the two-story field house stands in the way of future development of the eastern end of the campus.

The campus master plan calls for a two level parking deck covered by a plaza and academic buildings where the field once existed, Associate Vice Chancellor Kevin McNaughton said.

MacNaughton said the building obscures sight lines at the end of a pedestrian tunnel under the railroad tracks that split the campus and presents an unsafe condition. It also stands in the path of the railroad right-of-way and a new thoroughfare being studied to reduce traffic on Stinson Drive and Yarborough Drive, he said.

Crews will begin razing the field house on March 2.

Students opposed to the demolition have started a petition on Facebook in an effort to save the field house.