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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOld Main Society Info 020504a Thursday. March 2. 1995 .......- - -~ -- -- ~ Aggi:~lif~-l THE BATTALION. PAGE 3 ... ~;>,_._~~hl{ -~ A&M should . . put prIOrIty on preservation ERIN Hill '$. Photo courtesy of the Texas A&M Archives - RestoraUon by Nick Rodnlckll THE BArTAlJON Ross Hall, a dormitory, was built in 1891 ,condemned in 1930 and finally demolished in 1955 after being used lor military storage during World War II. ASST. OPINION EDITOR Samuel Grundy, class of '46 is a proud old Ag. He at- tended A&M College of Texas before World War II, served a tour of duty in the military during the war and then returned to A&M to rm- ish his schooling after the war ended. , Like many cadets before and after him, he lived in Hart Hall, Walton Hall and Law Hall, walked the Military Walk daily to Sbisa Dining Hall for meals and participat- ed in various Aggie traditions_ Grundy wears his now. smooth Aggie ring, makes the long drive to College Station for every Aggie home football game and fondly remembers his days at A&M. He tells his grandchildren stories and shows them campus land- marks when they come to A&M to visit. One of his grandchildren attends A&M, and several others plan to. Being an Aggie is becoming a family tradition. The traditions experienced by Grundy are inextricably tied to the physical campus it. self. Indeed, what would Mili- tary Walk have been without the cobblestone path? What would the tradition of dunk. ing the Yell Leaders after a win at Kyle Field be without See Hill, Page 4 Old Main Society works to preserve buildings Turn-ol-the-century Foster Hall riod architecture that the Society feels clashes with a col- legiate atmosphere. Another busy crew in the society is the historical preservation and adaptive reuse Crew. This crew looks for ways to use old buildings for new purposes, rather than tearing them down to make way for new construction. Keith met with Dr. Jerry Gaston, interim vice pres- ident for finance and administration. to discuss the so- ciety and its ideas and goals. Gaston pointed out that he agrees with many of the society's opinions. "I think the Old Main Society feels that they have had many things that have been destroyed in the past, and so they are naturally interested in trying to pre- serve as much as possible," Gaston said. "I certainly agree, with that, within limits." Gaston said consideration has to be given to the cost and space problems that go with new construction. "The cost would be hard to explain to people if we did the kind of architecture exemplified in the Admin- istration Building, Academic Building or the Animal Sciences Building," Gaston said. Even though the society and the administration may disagree occasionally, Keith said the society strives to be professional and hopes it doesn't develop an image as change-hating. "We want to accentuate the positive," Keith said. "We're not a radical group at all. We're the conservative group. We really want to work with the administration." dIe column on the front of Guion was exactly in line with the middle column on the center en. trance to Sbisa. Between these two points was Military Walk, a straight shot across campus that cadets took to get from their dorms and classes to eat. The Walk was walled in on either side by '308- era lampposts and many buildings. During the heyday, the buildings along the walk were perfectly aligned, column-to-c<llumn. Only a few now stand. . Among the surviving buildings that lined the walk are Hart Hall, Legett Hall, Bizzell Hall, and the Coke Building. Others were tom down to make way for construction in the 1970., suc;h as Mitchell Hall, which was replaced by Beutel Health Center. In 1971, the walk finally saw its demise with the demolition of Guion Hall to make way for the Rudder Complex. Guion did not give in easily. Keith, a graduate student in land and real es- tate development, said, "The wrecking ball was bouncing off the columns. It took several weeks to tear it down.<< The Society is divided into five departments, or "crews," each of which handle a different aspect of the so- ciety's goals. The new construction crew is interested in new build- ings under construction on campus. Keith said the Old Main Society would like to look over plans for new buildings before they are "set in stone." Society member Jason Moore, a senior management major, said, "I guess the idea is to, within reason, blend the buildings in with the history of the campus. "One thing that (Keith) always says is: (A&M has) a seal that says 1876 on it, and we're building buildings that look like 2010. That's probably not a good idea." Two peeves of the new construction crew are the West Campus buildings and the Evans Library. Keith said these buildings should have been built to be more timeless. "The Administration Building was built in '32. It looked good in '32, it looked good in '55, and when Phil Gramm was on national TV, the building looked good in '95," Keith said. "The Sterling Evans library was built in '78. It looked good in 78, probably didn't look so good in 'SO. It looked terrible in the mid-'80s, Photo courtesy of the TU815A&M Archives and it l~ks te.mble ~ay." . . Military Walk in 1926. The buildings on the left are the Assembly . The BlOloglCal SCiences BUIlding, ~nd Har- H II ( Id h I) d F H II nngton Tower are other examples of 70s pe- a 0 c ape an oster a. By Jay Knloum THE BAITAUON With the priQrity on the A&M campus of keeping traditions, one organization is trying to keep tra- ditions of a different type. The Old Main Society is a group of students who are dedicated to maintaining old campus buildings and voic- ing opinions about new construction. Greg Keith, founder and president of the Old Main Society, said the society has four goals: to give students an organized voice on the changing campus, to eave his- toric campus structures, to iroprove the quality and ap- pearance of the campus and to educate all students about the history of campus structures. An example of drastic architectural changes on cam- pus is the "Military Walk." Just about everybody who gets over to Northside has seen the "Military Walk" sign across the street from Sbisa cafeteria. However, asking pasBers-by to point out the walk may get looks of confusion, as it is now hidden among the rest of the campus's copious sidewalks. lawns and buildings. On the site where Rudder Auditorium now stands, there was a large building called Guion Hall, built in 1918. The mid. . Photo courtesy of the Texas A&M Archives