Campus Expansion, Construction

Strolled around campus a bit last night and saw the footprint for the belltower all cleared out. Also, good news on the Commons... they are going forward with the expansion. Here's a nice article from this week's Beacon about it:

http://media.www.upbeacon.net/media/storage/paper1193/news/2009/01/29/News/Laying.The.Foundations-3604470.shtml?reffeature=popuarstoriestab

And just in general... there were several good articles last week about the purchase of the River Campus:

About the Purchase
http://media.www.upbeacon.net/media/storage/paper1193/news/2009/01/22/News/University.Makes.Landmark.Purchase-3594124.shtml

About Possible Athletic Fields
http://media.www.upbeacon.net/media/storage/paper1193/news/2009/01/22/News/New-Athletic.Facilities.Possible-3594126.shtml

About the Environmental Impact
http://media.www.upbeacon.net/media/storage/paper1193/news/2009/01/22/News/Environmental.Benefits-3594127.shtml

That's so cool! I love the idea of having a salmon refuge. I'm also wondering if there are plans to try to stabilize the land in case of erosion or mud slides. It would seem like an important thing to do in light of recent mudslides and the fault lines found near the campus and river a few years ago.

There's a pretty big runout between the bluff and the river in that area. I doubt that would be an issue. also, as I read the original remediation plans, there should already be rip-rap on the bank to prevent erosion of the land between the steel pilings and the river that hold the bentonite clay barrier that's supposed to stop the pollution from hitting the river.

Stoney, thanks for the Beacon links. Did you also notice the article discussing the sad state of Howard Hall, and possible new facilities partially funded by the Boyles (of Columbia Sportswear)?

http://media.www.upbeacon.net/media/storage/paper1193/news/2009/01/29/Sports/How-Long.Must.Up.Endure.Howard-3604465-page3.shtml

Are there any images of what the new Commons entrance will look like? Does this include any exterior modifications?

I was actually just on campus today and walked around a bit while I was waiting for the box office to open. The Commons expansion is going to be BIG. They had just started to it was kind of hard to tell exactly how far back the new construction is going, but it looked to me like it was going way out towards the gazebo. It honestly looks like the Commons will double in size.

I'm not sure if they are building a new entrance to the Commons or not... maybe they will, but I think the main project is just increasing the size. I've also read in The Beacon that they were toying with the idea of keeping it open for a lot more hours and having couches in there for study space and all that... could be really cool.

The engineering building is definitely coming along. I poked my head around the fencing and checked out the big glass wall/canopy thing... looks really sharp. I like how they are matching the bricks as closely as possible. And they were doing some serious work on the quad-facing facade too.

And of course the belltower is underway as well... LOTS of construction going on in the quad right now.

Ha ha ha... they're only using bricks and mortar, not fairy dust.

I nominate that for the line/exchange of the month. Coldsmoke lobs one in and Stonehouse crushes it. Well played you two.

Stonehouse wrote:Ha ha ha... they're only using bricks and mortar, not fairy dust.

Well, maybe if they mixed in a bit of Prof. Bards magical beard dander....

Some of those have probably seen these, but I stumbled across them again and though I'd pass them along. Aparently, we didn't just buy some land that needed to be cleaned up, we bought a Skateboard Historic National Landmark--

Skateboarders are good for the Planet



Punk Landmark to be Buldozed

that's kind of cool that we have a place on campus now called 'Pirate Town.' can you imagine moving on campus and getting to say that your dorm is in Pirate Town? As in "I live in the row houses in Pirate Town," as opposed to "I live in the row houses by Chiles." Legit.

You could turn that building into the Pilot Nation Clubhouse. Lots of room for beer, televisions, an arcade, beer, pool table, beer...

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:You could turn that building into the Pilot Nation Clubhouse. Lots of room for beer, televisions, an arcade, beer, pool table, beer...

I just wanted to make sure you added beer to that list....

Maybe we could establish the PN Brewery down there, and brew some special "Wally's Pirate Town Ale" just for ourselves...?

We could make new members carry the kegs up to the 1,000 Poster Club loft...