I The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 13C - Fall 2014 a t CONiTRsi thON ~University to demolish North Hall Post renovations, former East Quad recalled fondly Repairs to current building deemed too costly By ARIANA ASSAF Daily StaffReporter SEPT. 23, 2013 - South Quad Residence Hall might look a bit rough right now, but another building on campus will have it worse. North Hall, the buildingthat currently is home to the Uni- versity's ROTC programming, is set for demolition, pend- ing approval by the Board of Regents. Operations Officer Wayne Doyle said the building is being torn down because repairs to the current building would be too costly. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the building, located on North University Avenue near the C.C. Little Building and the Museum of Natural History, is "more than a little old." North Hall was built between 1899 and 1900 as the Homeopathic Hospital Build- ing, according to records from the Bentley Historical Library. It has housed ROTC programs since 1940. Fitzgerald said plans for demolition and reconstruction of North Hall will be up for approval by the University's Board of Regents next month. Therefore, he could provide only limited information at the time. "It's been in development for a long time," Fitzgerald said. "It's a project that will try to solve multiple problems on campus." Lt. Col. Allana Bryant, a pro- fessor of military science, said ROTC programs will be relo- cated in May, and the building will be torn down in June. It's not clear where the ROTC pro- gram will be held during con- struction. Fitzgerald declined to comment on the timeline of construction, but said more information will become available once the project is approved. Nursing junior Meghan Conger, an Army ROTC cadet, said she spends several hours a week at North Hall because it's the meeting place for almost all of her ROTC activities. She added that she's disappoint- ed the building will be taken down, as she thinks of it as a campus landmark. "It's a very unique building with a lot of purpose, and it's a building that's special to cadets and midshipmen because it's solely for ROTC operations," Conger said. "Not alot of other students know about it or can use it." Conger was surprised by the decision to raze the building, because she thought it was in good condition. She said the building's basement isn't in the best condition, but the class- rooms, lounges and offices appear to be in good shape. "The building is undeniably old-looking, but I think it has a lot of charm," Conger said. "While the building is getting older and we can undoubtedly find another area for us, North Hall holds a lot of memories and will be missed." ROTC decommissions program home Students, faculty and alums honor North Hall before demolition By MICHAEL SPAETH For the Daily JULY 11, 2014 - Friday, members of the University's Reserve Officers Training Corps held a small ceremony on the front lawn of North Hall to pay tribute to the building they called home for 74 years in advance of its scheduled demo- lition. The building is being demol- ished to make room for the new 300,000-square foot Biological Science Building, approved by the University's Board of Regents in February, which will house the Depart- ment of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and col- lectionsfromthe Anthropology, Natural History, Paleontology and Zoology museums. .,At the event, current and retired members of the Univer- sity's Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC units adapted the tradi- tional Naval decommissioning ceremony, which signifies the end of a Naval ship's active ser- vice, to mark the end of North Hall's service to the University. Captain Joseph Evans, pro- fessor of Naval Science and Commander of the University's Naval ROTC, said though the building was never commis- sioned as a ship, it served the same symbolic purpose. "North Hall, much like any naval ship, faithfully served us all and all of us who ever worked inside her walls knows well that it's formed a personal- ity all of its own, full of charac- ter and spirit," Evans said. He added that in a sense the building was a vessel, not for traveling on water but for the training of students. NorthHallwasbuiltbetween 1899 and 1900, and is the sec- ond-oldest building on campus still in use after the President's House. From 1900 to 1922, the building served as the Uni- versity's Homeopathic Hospi- tal. It then became the South Department Hospital after the Res abo of NO reopen Hall th to won vation' bough the "ni withou and fr Reside East Q Som taken due to most1 enced closed ly agre reason after y in nee LSA recent dent si piling East Q said sl ackno lost in also th ments. "Ea import ple ov "Befor of pee about I ly mea their c aroun was re life an' The space1 "the I major elimin sparki studen "Th of the they a renova were i that," Joel in the that st have e nity d od for to Wes ing coi "Ha that s don't e We do before will te do you tors a thinkt Hav before idents concerned eline Higgins, an RC junior and East Quad resident adviser, said ut crowding,LOss she had a very positive experience living in the old East Quad. communityin "It was a blast. The community .bi iwas just really great. There was new building a lot of art work on the walls - murals and stuff; it just had a great By EMMA KERR personality," she said. For the Daily Higgins added that her experi- ence with the new East Quad has V. 4, 2013 - Since the been similarly positive thus far. ing of East Quad Residence "Coming back from West Quad is fall, students have begun has been a great experience; der what exactly the reno- everybody is a lot more open here, s $116-million price tag has especially because of the layout of t them. The transition to the building," Higginssaid. ew" East Quad has not been Though students complain t significant adjustment about how the RC has changed ustration. Students in the with the renovation of East Quad, ntial College have called Levine sees the changes as "com- uad home since 1969. - plicated." e complain that the RC has "The new building definitely a large loss as a community matches the University's goals the renovation. However, for the future, and I think there RC students who experi- were a lot of problems with the East Quad before it was old building, like structurally for renovations unanimous- and health-code wise, for sure," e that, even if just for safety Levine said. "But I definitely think s and general deterioration that the building itself was a point ears of use, the building was of similarity between people from d of a makeover. the RC from different generations; senior Rosie Levine, who people came together around that, ly completed an indepen- apd there is a lot lost there even tudy project aimed at com- though it had to happen." memories and stories from The dining hall has been a Luad prior to its renovation, source of frustration for students he feels it is important to actually living in East Quad. Stu- wledge not only what was dents from other dorms choose to East Quad's renovation, but eat there frequently and crowd the e necessity of the improve- room, as South Quad dining hall is closed this year for construction. st Quad has been a really Peter Logan, the director of ant place for a lot of peo- communications for University er the years," Levine said. Housing, said in comparison to e East Quad closed, a lot othe dining halls, East Quad pro- ple came back and talked vides more options for vegetarian how much the building real- and vegan students, more local nt to them and how much foods - all meat and poultry at ollege life was really formed East Quad is local - and made-to- d East Quad and how that order food. ally the center of their social However, Plasterer mentions d political life." overcrowding and the general Halfway Inn, a concert time-consuming nature of eating known among students as in the East Quad dining hall affect Half-ass," was one of the her and other residents on a daily parts of East Quad and was basis. sated during renovations, Students are still adjusting to ng discontent among some this new dining experience, and its. are finding ways to cope with the at was a huge central aspect crowds. East Quad community, and "We aren't restoring residence ctually took it away in the halls to be what they were or to tion, and a lot of people meet expectations of those who really, really upset about used to live there," Logan said, Levine said. "We are renovating them for the lyn Plasterer, a sophomore contemporary and emergingneeds Residential College, admits of current and future students." udents living in East Quad The post-renovation East Quad, xperienced aloss of commu- Plasterer said, almost feels likea uring this transitional peri- hotel. Things are very clean, mo|- the RC, which was relocated ern and nice, but it doesn't always t Quad Residence Hall dur- feel like home. But Plasterer and nstruction. other students are also excited to lf of us in the RC didn't have see what East Quad becomes. ense of community, so we "I think it is kind of cool that we ;ven know how to foster it. have this opportunity to put our t know what the RC was unique imprint on this building" , Plasterer said, "People Higgins said, 11 us it was better, but how "East Quad was definitely home fix that? The administra- to bothstudents and faculty before re trying really hard, but I the renovation," Levine said, :he community is suffering." "Maybe it will become that for ing lived in East Quad both a new generation again, but this renovations and after, Mad- building was really special." ALLISON FARRAND/Daily UPPER: ROTC students perform a final color guard ceremony on July 11, 2014 at North Hall, the home af theROTC pro- gram for 74 years. LOWER: A bell is rung to decommission North Hall, an adaptation from naval tradition. University stopped studying homeopathy. In the early 1940s, the build- ing was renamed North Hall and became home to the Uni- versity's Navy ROTC program, with the University's Army and Air Force ROTC programs joining a decade later. All three programs relocated to the Chemistry building last May. During the ceremony, Evans highlighted several memorable moments in North Hall's his- tory. On December 8,1941- the day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor during World War II - a local newspaper reported that more than 100 University students stood outside the com- manding officer's office to sign up to fight in the war, he said. North Hall was also bombed three times. The first, in June 1969, was felt two miles away and broke 60 windows, though nobody was injured. University alum Captain Phil Klintworth, an executive con- sultant at Tetra Tech and for- mer professor of Naval Science who also spoke at the event, said in an interview after the ceremony that he was surprised there wasn't more of an effort to preserve North Hall as a histor- ic landmark. However, he added that he agreed with the regents' decision. "From a practical stand- point, I mean, the building is old, it certainly doesn't meet fire codes, it's very expensive to keep it in repair," he said. "If I were on the Board of Regents, I'd probably make the same call." Commander Scott Howell, associate professor of Naval Science and Executive Officer of the University's Naval ROTC Unit, said before the ceremony that the event was bittersweet. He added that moving forward, he would like to see the Univer- sity's ROTC program continue to thrive and increase its cam- pus visibility. "I'm proud of our students," Howell said. "They're an amaz- ing bunch of young men and women who volunteer to serve the country, go to school - I mean, this is a tough school to get into, so they're extremely bright, extremely intelligent." MADE IT TO PAGE 13? YOU MUST REALLY LIKE NEWS. Apply to the Daily and spend four years covering it. NEWS@MICHIGANDAILY.COM #RUSHTMD ROTC faculty and honored guests attend the decommissioning ceremony of North Hall.