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.

Stonehouse wrote:The Commons expansion is going to be BIG.

Any plans to improve the food?

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...

If you'll have them drop one keg off at the 500 Poster Annex, I'll get busy.

up7587 wrote:If you'll have them drop one keg off at the 500 Poster Annex, I'll get busy.

Haha, I'd support it... But the only catch is, we 1K posters get to pick which beer

40 years ago, I would have been all over this place....



Of course, that probably means I'd be dead from lead poisoning.

There have definitely been a few articles cropping up about the Pirate Town skate park being shut down. The "romantic" part of me sympathizes with the people who are bummed out because I think it's kind of a cool urban thing that happens organically in a city like Portland, but from the University's aspect it's a no-brainer: the liability is HUGE (imagine if someone cracked their head open in there and then decided to sue), not to mention that there is lots of illegal activity that goes on there (drug use, underage drinking, etc.)

Really, a place like that can only work in abandoned/deserted buildings. Now that something is finally going to happen with that land, I hope that people who read the Mercury/Willamette Week/etc. understand places like that only can exist in very special circumstances and that what the University is going to do with that land is so so so much better for the environment and the City of Portland as a whole.

In other news, the bell tower is starting to take shape... last I saw it was about 15 feet high and they already had the cupola on-site ready to go up. The first thing that struck me is how it really isn't going to be all that large... tall, yes, but the total square footage of the footprint is actually quite small. People who were worried about a huge honking bell-tower looking out of place won't have to worry.

Still very stoked about the bell tower - it will add soooomuch character, especially well-placed by the chapel.

Anyone want to snap a few pics if they're on campus??

Rochin54 wrote:
Anyone want to snap a few pics if they're on campus??

I volunteer Drummer. He likes photography, lives close by, and could use some exercise.

OK... I went on campus today and snapped some pics before the baseball game. Sorry my camera work isn't great, but at least it should give you an idea of what's going on around campus.


This is the view from Waldschmidt Hall... it's almost taller than the chapel and there is still one more main section and the cupola to go up. But as you can also see, it's not really too wide.


Here is a close-up of the sections that still need to go up. I thought it was interesting that the bells were already in it... I was told they will go up like that with the bells inside already.


The view from near the front entrance of the Commons.


My best guess as to how tall it will eventually be, judging by the sections still on the ground waiting to be put up.


Here is the Commons expansion. The framing is nearly complete... and it's big.


I tried to get the existing Commons in this pic so you can see how big the expansion is. It was tough to get a good angle though. I would say that the expansion will very nearly double the size of the building.


Here you can see the expansion from the patio outside the Terrace Room. As you can see, it definitely goes all the way across. I went behind it as well, and it comes pretty close to the gazebo. There will still be a good amount of grassy bluff space behind it though... don't worry!


Here's the Shiley Hall (nee Engineering Building) expansion. It looks really nice! Hard to believe this used to be the back side of the building.


Another view... the landscaping of the sidewalk makes a huge difference. It looks soooo much nicer than what used to be there.


Here is a frontal view of the new dorms (Schoenfeldt and Fields Halls). The exterior is nearly complete.


A side view of the new dorms, with the Village behind for a height reference. The new dorms are big... about the size of Shipstad I would say.

Awesome photos... thanks Stoney.

Interesting that the bells are in the tower before its done... I cant wait to hear it ring.

The engineering building looks great! The rest of it looks pretty good too. But to me the engineering building looks the best because it was such an eyesore before.

Those are great photos; change makes me feel old sometimes. Here is little link that tells more about Triangle Park:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/sites/TrianglePark