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Friend who works in North Hall just posted a picture of the construction fencing being up and saying they're starting the work. Sad day for WMU.

Inevitable. Not like we ponied up the dough to keep it intact and update it though.

Just for context, I'm still smarting over Tiger Stadium. [/align]

(07-18-2013 10:10 AM)DesertBronco Wrote:  Inevitable. Not like we ponied up the dough to keep it intact and update it though.

Just for context, I'm still smarting over Tiger Stadium. [/align]

that one still irks me more because we had somebody ready to buy it and do something with it, but Kwame and co. said no.

I still think a minor league stadium in the Navin Field configuration would have been damn cool.

Many great memories of my dad in the old Speech and Hearing Center. So sad to see it go. But HEY!, we need to put up a parking lot. Uh ....... yeah.

Whinny1, your maiden name is VanRiper is it ???????

I really have no problem with tearing down the other buildings. Architecturally they don't have much to offer, yes they're old but they seemed to have been built for function and low cost rather than to have some sort of historical appeal to them. Lord knows you could put something new on that property for far less money (and it would likely look far better) than if you rehabbed those buildings.

I'm just glad they're doing something with the one building that has true historical appeal.

^Agree with CD on this one.

I can understand Mr. Whinny's disappointment given her history and memories of the old campus. The business college was on the old campus when I attended, and the buildings were in poor condition back then already (especially East Hall).

(07-21-2013 08:25 PM)Broncobelt Wrote:  ^Agree with CD on this one.

I can understand Mr. Whinny's disappointment given her history and memories of the old campus. The business college was on the old campus when I attended, and the buildings were in poor condition back then already (especially East Hall).

The three that are being tore down needed updating, they were old style, high ceiling type buildings that had tons of potential for looking spectacular, but some people can't see through what's in front of them and instead think that they have to go buy McMansions, leveraging themselves to the hilt all in the name of shiney. But I digress.

I'm just glad a fire didn't catch when I was in the stacks doing research, that would have gone up so fast there were have been just a list of people that they "thought" were in there left.

One needs to be renovated, the other two have all the character of a shoebox. The Friends of East Campus did a fine job of pulling weeds and shaming others into ponying up money, yet they themselves couldn't produce any coin for their cause. A Bake sale, something..........anything? I might have respected their cause more had the effort gone to grassroots fund raising rather than whining and browbeating Dunn and city business leaders.

I've spent a lot of time at UM the last two years and have watched a few restorations. Think Oakland Gym. They leave the facade and gut the interior.......not really a renovation at all. The facades of the speech and biz schools are very unremarkable, and probably not worth the $$$ it would cost to save them.

I credit Dunn for saving East Hall. I suspect Miller, Dieter, and Beetle would have all liked to have torn them down, they just didn't want to deal with the blowback.

I know Miller didn't want to. Remember the strike in 84? East Campus refurbishing was a major sticking point on the budget, the profs wanted to torch it back then.

(07-22-2013 02:56 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  I know Miller didn't want to. Remember the strike in 84? East Campus refurbishing was a major sticking point on the budget, the profs wanted to torch it back then.

We both know they were run down and dilapidated then. An embarrassment to the school. None the less, for 30 more years nothing was done. At least Dunn took the heat and did something.

I am alright with the plan, as long as they use the vacated spaces for new buildings if and when new buildings need to be built on campus, and as long as anything new be built in the same architectural style as East Hall.

The gross negligence that led to East Campus being run down over many years is tragic. But this is what has been left.

That East Campus real estate is nothing short of spectacular, and while i never had even a single class there, I can say it should be a principal focal point for the school. It should look historic, and consistent with the character of the old school. I would love to see three or four well maintained buildings, all in the same style as East Hall, twenty years from now.

Quote:That East Campus real estate is nothing short of spectacular, and while i never had even a single class there, I can say it should be a principal focal point for the school. It should look historic, and consistent with the character of the old school. I would love to see three or four well maintained buildings, all in the same style as East Hall, twenty years from now.

Would have been nice.