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Academic Centers for Athletes Draw Donors
More than a dozen university athletics programs have added lavish new facilities in recent years, and academic-services budgets are soaring, a Chronicle survey finds. (Photograph courtesy of Texas A&M U.)
College Employees Value Campus Environment, Survey Finds
When a Chronicle survey asked college employees what they value about their jobs, they put the physical environment in which they work at the top of the list.
Rise in Tornadoes, Floods Poses Risk to Colleges
What if the sort of extreme weather that has left the University of Iowa inundated in floodwaters is not a freak event? What if it is a sign of things to come? (Photograph by AP Images)
Other News
After Hurricane Gustav, Campuses Clean Up
Cleanup crews scoured Gulf Coast campuses, removing downed limbs and repairing broken windows, while students and staff members forced out by Hurricane Gustav waited for word that they could return.
Lessons From Katrina Improve Colleges' Evacuations for Hurricane Gustav
College officials across the Gulf Coast were cautiously relieved when initial reports suggested the damage wasn't severe.
College of Southern Idaho Cafeteria Goes 'Tray-Less'
Students are also wasting less food because they no longer have the option of overloading their cafeteria trays, says the college's food-services director.
New campus buildings
Multimedia
A Green Building as a Billboard for Science
(A 2006 Chronicle video)
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About Buildings & Grounds
Buildings & Grounds is written by Scott Carlson (left) and Lawrence Biemiller (right). Scott Carlson writes about architecture, facilties, energy, and sustainability, among other topics. Lawrence Biemiller writes about architecture and facilities and contributes to Notes from Academe. What's happening on your campus? Let us know.
U. of Illinois Arena Lands on Endangered List
Endangered? The 1963 Assembly Hall at the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Wikimedia Commons image)
One of academe’s finest flying saucers ended up on an endangered list this week. Why? Because it doesn’t have skyboxes.
The saucer is actually an arena—the 1963 Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Designed by the Modernist architect Max Abramovitz—an alumnus of the university who is best known as the designer of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall—it seats well over 16,000 in a perfect circle. Its dome is held up by 614 miles of steel cable wrapped tightly enough around its edge that tension keeps the concrete supports in place.
The university, however, is “actively debating whether to renovate it or tear it down,” according to The Chicago Tribune‘s Skyline blog, because the arena lacks revenue-producing skyboxes, as well as escalators and elevators. Hence the building’s appearance on the 2008 Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois list of endangered structures (which also includes Wrigley Field and the Chicago Daily News Building).
Readers’ comments on the Skyline item are well worth reading. Some readers are outraged that the university would consider tearing down a perfectly good building, while others refer to the arena as “ugly” and not “fan-friendly.” You can decide yourself whether you like the look of it: Plenty of photos are online.
Lawrence Biemiller | Friday April 4, 2008 | Permalink | Contact usComments
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It is one of only two identical structures, or structures that use this support system — the other is at Indiana U, also called “Assembly Hall”.
— bb Apr 4, 04:16 PM #
It is ridiculous to tear down a perfectly good building because its seating is too egalitarian! That should be a plus, not a negative
— John Harbeson Apr 4, 09:45 PM #