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  #601  
Old Posted Oct 7, 2020, 3:03 PM
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Article in today's Tuscaloosa News on construction (with pics) of the new Tutwiler.

https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story...er/3636802001/
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  #602  
Old Posted Oct 7, 2020, 3:24 PM
MdtwnATL MdtwnATL is offline
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Article in today's Tuscaloosa News on construction (with pics) of the new Tutwiler.

https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story...er/3636802001/
Nice. Really excited that this side of the stadium will be so attractive when this is all finished. I have always HATED that tower.
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  #603  
Old Posted Oct 11, 2020, 3:15 AM
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Gorgas Renovation

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Nice. Really excited that this side of the stadium will be so attractive when this is all finished. I have always HATED that tower.

I always thought Tut was more attractive than Rose Towers, but the new complex will be much more complementary to the campus architecture.

Anyone know when the North side of Gorgas Library will finally be renovated? They have been "planning" to do it for about 15 years. When the area between Gorgas, and the three Gothic buildings just south of Woods Quad, is no longer a parking lot, and when Gorgas has a Greek Revival style north side, it will look so good. I wonder what the hold up has been all these years.
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  #604  
Old Posted Oct 11, 2020, 7:19 AM
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I always thought Tut was more attractive than Rose Towers, but the new complex will be much more complementary to the campus architecture.

Anyone know when the North side of Gorgas Library will finally be renovated? They have been "planning" to do it for about 15 years. When the area between Gorgas, and the three Gothic buildings just south of Woods Quad, is no longer a parking lot, and when Gorgas has a Greek Revival style north side, it will look so good. I wonder what the hold up has been all these years.
I've geen wondering about Gorgas for years. I think they first announced the overhaul when I was a freshman or sophomore. So many different projects have been finished, I really don't know what gives. Yes, Gorgas has had some good renovations in the past 15ish years, but the whole of the building needs a good overhaul/expansion. Great colleges/universities have great libraries, and Gorgas really doesn't reflect the academic aspirations of UA.
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  #605  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2020, 1:36 PM
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I've geen wondering about Gorgas for years. I think they first announced the overhaul when I was a freshman or sophomore. So many different projects have been finished, I really don't know what gives. Yes, Gorgas has had some good renovations in the past 15ish years, but the whole of the building needs a good overhaul/expansion. Great colleges/universities have great libraries, and Gorgas really doesn't reflect the academic aspirations of UA.
Yeah, I feel the same away about the back of Gorgas that I do about Tutwiler. I agree that once that project is complete, it will do wonders for that little pocket.

Otherwise, for a main library on a college campus, I think it's pretty iconic and imposing actually (the front of it!). From it's classic design with the massive columns and stairs to where it's located back center of the Quad. All beautiful. Maybe it could use more square footage, but I'm not sure how you'd go about that with such an historic structure on a small footprint. It already severely impacts the visibility of the stunningly beautiful Woods Quad buildings behind it, which is a shame. Those buildings deserve to be showcased, and they are hidden until you get right up on them.
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  #606  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2020, 9:51 PM
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Gorgas Renovation Animation

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Yeah, I feel the same away about the back of Gorgas that I do about Tutwiler. I agree that once that project is complete, it will do wonders for that little pocket.

Otherwise, for a main library on a college campus, I think it's pretty iconic and imposing actually (the front of it!). From it's classic design with the massive columns and stairs to where it's located back center of the Quad. All beautiful. Maybe it could use more square footage, but I'm not sure how you'd go about that with such an historic structure on a small footprint. It already severely impacts the visibility of the stunningly beautiful Woods Quad buildings behind it, which is a shame. Those buildings deserve to be showcased, and they are hidden until you get right up on them.
Somewhere in this thread for Univ of Alabama, I posted a message with a link to a youtube video showing a video of of what the renovated North side of Gorgas would look like. Here it is again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL6FJxlMXD4. It shows a North side that takes up some of the space between the current north footprint and Clark Hall, but not too much. There is actually a good bit of land between the two buildings, but the height of both makes the space between look smaller. Anyway, it looked really good, and like the South side, was Greek Revival. I think there was still a road for auto travel, but it would probably be restricted and for UA shuttles alone. For years, they have talked of an Honors Plaza to be built there. Honestly, I think they want to figure out the parking before they remove all those spaces. Or they COULD, with enough money, build an underground garage under the current parking lot. The only concern I see is that the Little Round House on the West side of Gorgas is gone in this animation. Hopefully, they relocate it or enclose it within the expansion.

Last edited by atlanta68; Oct 14, 2020 at 5:29 PM.
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  #607  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2020, 2:55 PM
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  #608  
Old Posted Oct 22, 2020, 2:53 PM
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Good News!

I woke up to see an email from the university announcing that the $15 million goal had been reached to build the Performing Arts Center. So groundbreaking will begin soon. No date set yet for that. I donated about four years ago, and was wondering what had happened, so it feels good to have been a part of it.
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  #609  
Old Posted Oct 22, 2020, 3:15 PM
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The old Bryce Building has been a booger bear to renovate. First, as expected, it turned into and huge archeological project. Inexpectedly, the old building had stabilty problems that had to be addressed and ran costs up. I'm very happy to see the monetary goal reached. When completed, that will be a showcase for the State. One of the purposes of the 2nd Avenue overpass over the railroad tracks is to provide a direct route for traffic in and out of there. Hopefully, this will speed up the future connection of 2nd Ave. and Bryce Lawn Drive. Also, a new, much larger, Alumni Hall will be built off Campus Drive, across from the Rec. Center, in the old pecan orchard on the edge of Bryce Lawn.
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  #610  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2020, 3:10 PM
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I can't wait to see what the renovated interior of the Bryce building will look like. If you look through the window just lateral to the front door of Bryce, the interior is surprisingly NOT grand. There is a central, very narrow stair case within a narrow hall. Just does not match the grand exterior.

Also, I was surprised to hear the Battles discuss the renovation of Bryce along with the construction of the Performing Arts Center. I don't recall them linking the two projects in their pitch for donations.
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  #611  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2020, 7:36 PM
MdtwnATL MdtwnATL is offline
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The old Bryce Building has been a booger bear to renovate. First, as expected, it turned into and huge archeological project. Inexpectedly, the old building had stabilty problems that had to be addressed and ran costs up. I'm very happy to see the monetary goal reached. When completed, that will be a showcase for the State. One of the purposes of the 2nd Avenue overpass over the railroad tracks is to provide a direct route for traffic in and out of there. Hopefully, this will speed up the future connection of 2nd Ave. and Bryce Lawn Drive. Also, a new, much larger, Alumni Hall will be built off Campus Drive, across from the Rec. Center, in the old pecan orchard on the edge of Bryce Lawn.
Yeah, the performing arts center will be postcard worthy for sure. Great facilities for a great theater/dance department at UA.

Regarding the new Alumni Hall, why are they building this so far away from the core of campus? This should be in the heart of campus, or at least as close as the current one is, no? Maybe they want to save that land for future academic buildings?
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  #612  
Old Posted Oct 23, 2020, 11:46 PM
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Yeah, the performing arts center will be postcard worthy for sure. Great facilities for a great theater/dance department at UA.

Regarding the new Alumni Hall, why are they building this so far away from the core of campus? This should be in the heart of campus, or at least as close as the current one is, no? Maybe they want to save that land for future academic buildings?
I think you're right about saving land for future academic buildings. Alumni Hall has never really played a huge part in academics and is really just an event venue in the form of a frat house.

Also, I'm betting The University is going for another landmark gateway building like they did with nursing. I'm very interested to see how it'll turn out architecturally.
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  #613  
Old Posted Oct 25, 2020, 11:22 PM
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Interesting current look at the inside of the old Bryce Hospital.

https://www.facebook.com/underground...6254471771530/
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  #614  
Old Posted Nov 7, 2020, 3:03 PM
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Drawings of the New Alumni Hall. Notice the plaza in the rear of the building. Definitely built for larger events.

https://buildingbama.ua.edu/projects/new-alumni-hall/
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  #615  
Old Posted Nov 7, 2020, 8:35 PM
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Drawings of the New Alumni Hall. Notice the plaza in the rear of the building. Definitely built for larger events.

https://buildingbama.ua.edu/projects/new-alumni-hall/
Definitely looks more academic. I'm assuming that uses for the old Alumni Hall will shift to the Bryant Center.
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  #616  
Old Posted Nov 7, 2020, 10:59 PM
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UA has been wanting to expand the Bryant Conference Center for years. When the new Alumni Hall is built, they will expand into that space. It will bring larger conferences to Tuscaloosa, including more people and tax revenue.
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  #617  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2020, 11:32 PM
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After reviewing my post, I meant to say that UA wants to double the size of the current Conference Center and will tear down the old Alumni Hall and build on to the current Conference Center.
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  #618  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2020, 3:06 PM
MdtwnATL MdtwnATL is offline
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After reviewing my post, I meant to say that UA wants to double the size of the current Conference Center and will tear down the old Alumni Hall and build on to the current Conference Center.
UA should actually consider a new-build hotel/conference center in my opinion. It needs to all be in one building.
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  #619  
Old Posted Nov 25, 2020, 9:47 AM
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UA should actually consider a new-build hotel/conference center in my opinion. It needs to all be in one building.
The conference center is actually very well laid out. Dunno how the University plans to expand logistically, but I don't think a new build is necessary. Given the University's history of renovating/expanding facilities in a pretty efficient manner, I'm not terribly worried the end result.
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  #620  
Old Posted Nov 30, 2020, 5:50 PM
MdtwnATL MdtwnATL is offline
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The conference center is actually very well laid out. Dunno how the University plans to expand logistically, but I don't think a new build is necessary. Given the University's history of renovating/expanding facilities in a pretty efficient manner, I'm not terribly worried the end result.
I'm sure it's nice, as is the hotel. I'm in the hotel/conference industry, and am just speaking from a "flow" standpoint. No meeting planner likes to book a hotel where your group has to literally leave the hotel to get to their conference space. You want your people to get there from their guest room elevator, or at least via lobby.

But I get it - unless it's in bad disrepair, it may not be worth the price tag to build new. There's significant competition, though, in Embassy Suites, and in other hotels coming to Downtown (Alamite to have conference space as well, I believe).
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