Yes. Safe design, bland with established aesthetic, appeal to lowest common denominator. I don’t mind the design aesthetic we have, but I would not be opposed to some uniqueness and complementary standout areas of campus.[/quote] FTFY 
Yes. Safe design, bland with established aesthetic, appeal to lowest common denominator. I don’t mind the design aesthetic we have, but I would not be opposed to some uniqueness and complementary standout areas of campus.[/quote] FTFY ;)[/quote]
I am no architect and I confess I do like the new aesthetic brick look much better than the old concrete. With that said, we are a university of higher learning and thinking. We need some areas of uniqueness around campus and a way to differentiate ourselves from other schools.
With us being a relatively new school, we also need to retain some landmarks that have been around for a while. That “tower” is about all that is left. Has anyone in chapel hill advocated tearing down the bell tower or the old well? I doubt it.
My biggest concern is the fact that they want to tear it down immediately, even though they say it will be safe for a couple more years. That raises a red flag.
Dubois wants to hurry along the process because he thinks it will shorten the duration of the sh’t storm he’s going to face. It won’t.
This is another explain of no vision by the administration. If you are going to tear down one of the only iconic symbols on our campus how about reveal the master plan rendering of the new quad design. There has been a big crack in the base of the tower as long as I can remember. Why hasn’t the tower been maintained?
Saw this posted on facebook last night and thought it would be appropriate to share here.
From ‘Charlotte and UNC Charlotte: Growing Up Together’, by Ken Sanford:
[size=1.35em]“The Belk gift was for a bell tower. An early master plan by the firm of Charlotte architect A. G. Odell included a bell tower, but it was depicted as an open, square structure. Colvard believed that the campus needed a structure with some height to it, because the existing campus buildings were only two or three stories high. He said that he wanted something to symbolize the university’s ‘upward reach toward excellence.’Architects for Little, Lee and Associates found that to construct a tower with any height, given the limited budget, they would have to be creative. The solution was to design a tower 147 feet high. It was created by stacking twenty circular, hollow, seven-foot sections of white concrete aggregate material. That column sat atop a seven-foot base of brown brick. It housed a 183-bell electronic carillon, which could be played manually or programmed to play automatically.
The tower was dedicated in 1970 to William Henry Belk, patriarch of the Belk family and founder of the mercantile empire, in a ceremony attended by North Carolina governor Robert W. Scott.
Because of the tower’s phallic appearance, the university had to withstand some kidding, and over the years some students felt the need to call attention to the obvious. Other critics said it looked like a rocket on a launch pad.
Another design feature had to be explained. There was a second hump at the base of the tower. Rumors were that a second tower was to have been constructed there. Actually, it was just a feature to allow a hatch and entrance to be built for access to the inside of the tower so that it could be serviced.
The tower did fit its contemporary campus setting. At night, when lighted, the design was dramatic and certainly distinctive.”[/size]
clt says stabilize the tower, then improve the area around the base.
or build an even taller tower.
Finally got a reply to my emails today from the Chancellor’s Chief of Staff:
Thank you for writing and I am sorry not to have responded earlier. Your email went to our office email which is checked by students. They failed to forward this email to me until last night.
[font=garamond, serif][size=4]I know there is a difference of opinion about the tower, both in terms of its aesthetic value and the meaning it has for some. With that said, we haven’t had the funding to both maintain the Tower while attending to the more important facilities we have for teaching and research. We already have deferred maintenance needs of $111M, not including the tower. Thank your elected officials for that. On average, over the last 10 years, we have average annual funding for repairs and renovations of $1.8M. We think the money spent to repair the tower to maintain its current condition can be better spent on a redesigned Plaza that will be more beautiful and functional. Although the tower was once the center of campus, it is no longer and that area is among the least utilized on campus. We’d like to change that. [/size][/font]
[font=garamond, serif][size=4]Thank you for sharing your views.[/size][/font]
I know what they are putting there
[quote=“s9er, post:128, topic:29896”]I know what they are putting there
[/quote]
Or we could have the same effect with just a Willie Clayton statue
[quote=“Sideshow, post:127, topic:29896”]Finally got a reply to my emails today from the Chancellor’s Chief of Staff:
Thank you for writing and I am sorry not to have responded earlier. Your email went to our office email which is checked by students. They failed to forward this email to me until last night.
[font=garamond, serif][size=4]I know there is a difference of opinion about the tower, both in terms of its aesthetic value and the meaning it has for some. With that said, we haven’t had the funding to both maintain the Tower while attending to the more important facilities we have for teaching and research. We already have deferred maintenance needs of $111M, not including the tower. Thank your elected officials for that. On average, over the last 10 years, we have average annual funding for repairs and renovations of $1.8M. We think the money spent to repair the tower to maintain its current condition can be better spent on a redesigned Plaza that will be more beautiful and functional. Although the tower was once the center of campus, it is no longer and that area is among the least utilized on campus. We’d like to change that. [/size][/font]
[font=garamond, serif][size=4]Thank you for sharing your views.[/size][/font][/quote]
So elected officials he blames? Freakin bond referendum money has built how many Taj Majals for Phil?
Please retire.
[quote=“Sideshow, post:127, topic:29896”]Finally got a reply to my emails today from the Chancellor’s Chief of Staff:
Thank you for writing and I am sorry not to have responded earlier. Your email went to our office email which is checked by students. They failed to forward this email to me until last night.
[font=garamond][size=1.45em]I know there is a difference of opinion about the tower, both in terms of its aesthetic value and the meaning it has for some. With that said, we haven’t had the funding to both maintain the Tower while attending to the more important facilities we have for teaching and research. We already have deferred maintenance needs of $111M, not including the tower. Thank your elected officials for that. On average, over the last 10 years, we have average annual funding for repairs and renovations of $1.8M. We think the money spent to repair the tower to maintain its current condition can be better spent on a redesigned Plaza that will be more beautiful and functional. Although the tower was once the center of campus, it is no longer and that area is among the least utilized on campus. We’d like to change that. [/size][/font]
[font=garamond][size=1.45em]Thank you for sharing your views.[/size][/font][/quote]
What about private donations? The Alumni tailgating pavilion cost $1.6 million and wasn’t that private money. Certainly $1 mill can be raised for the Belk Tower.
Based on the email Phil sent back to me I don’t think there is anything that can be done to save the tower. I really think we need to pivot and at this point make sure what they put there is something that we can all get behind. He said a group of architects and landscapers would be doing the design. We need to make sure its not something generic or boring. My fear is the plaza will be brick and benches.
Out of curiosity, will the combined costs of tearing down the tower and building something else be greater than the cost of fixing the tower?
Out of curiosity, will the combined costs of tearing down the tower and building something else be greater than the cost of fixing the tower?[/quote]
$250K for demo and Phil says 2M for what goes in it’s place. Not sure if $250k is included in that. The cost to fix tower was said to be 1M.
http://facilities.uncc.edu/our-services/business-related-services/design-services/reports
[table][tr] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td][/tr][/table] [size=10pt][font=Arial]0[/font][/size] [table][tr][td]0[/td] [td]BA-1329[/td] [td]Construction[/td] [td]Facilities Informal Projects[/td] [td]Campus[/td] [td]BELK TOWER DEMOLITION[/td] [td] [/td] [td]10/20/2015[/td] [td]FAKE, WILLIAM (wmfake)[/td] [td] [/td] [td]WITHERSPOON, MELANIE (mewither)[/td] [td]BOAL, JOHN (jboal1)[/td] [td]16-0056[/td] [td]BOAL, JOHN (jboal1)[/td] [td] [/td][/tr][/table] [size=10pt][/color][font=Arial] $ 250,000.00 [/font][/size] [size=10pt][/color][font=Arial] $ 250,000.00 [/font][/size] [table][tr][td][/td] [td]0[/td] [td]N[/td] [td]129
[/td][/tr][/table]
It needs to be rebuilt if it can’t be saved!!
I would be OK with a structurally sound, exact replica of the Belk Tower, along with improvements to the quad.
I would be OK with a structurally sound, exact replica of the Belk Tower, along with improvements to the quad.[/quote]Yeah, me too.
clt talked to a few people in the know, and this is the replacement. with a brick base of course.
it adds height to campus and speeds up the aol im and napster for the students.
Out of curiosity, will the combined costs of tearing down the tower and building something else be greater than the cost of fixing the tower?[/quote]
$250K for demo and Phil says 2M for what goes in it’s place. Not sure if $250k is included in that. The cost to fix tower was said to be 1M.
http://facilities.uncc.edu/our-services/business-related-services/design-services/reports
[table][tr] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td][/tr][/table] [size=10pt][font=Arial]0[/font][/size] [table][tr][td]0[/td] [td]BA-1329[/td] [td]Construction[/td] [td]Facilities Informal Projects[/td] [td]Campus[/td] [td]BELK TOWER DEMOLITION[/td] [td] [/td] [td]10/20/2015[/td] [td]FAKE, WILLIAM (wmfake)[/td] [td] [/td] [td]WITHERSPOON, MELANIE (mewither)[/td] [td]BOAL, JOHN (jboal1)[/td] [td]16-0056[/td] [td]BOAL, JOHN (jboal1)[/td] [td] [/td][/tr][/table] [size=10pt][/color][font=Arial] $ 250,000.00 [/font][/size] [size=10pt][/color][font=Arial] $ 250,000.00 [/font][/size] [table][tr][td][/td] [td]0[/td] [td]N[/td] [td]129
[/td][/tr][/table][/quote]
So it will cost twice as much to build something else as it will to fix it? And he blamed not fixing it on lack of funding?
We should do massive protests.