New amphitheater to open next to Bell Hall

     The construction around Bell Hall on Wilkinson Street is nearing completion. The new and improved Bell Hall parking lot and green space is set to be finished on schedule in mid-November.
     The finished area will be part parking and part lawn area. The most intriguing structure of the project looks to be the small, amphitheater-like stage that will be facing away from Bell Hall towards the lawn and parking lot.
     “(The space) will contain a small concert area,” said Facilities Planner John Webb, who is leading the project. “You could call it an amphitheater, though it’s small.”
     The structure is a two-tiered brick-seating wall that could be used for a band. Webb suggested its use for an event like the Sweetwater Festival coming up or for classes to meet outside.
     The wall will contain provisions for a band like power hook-ups, in order to avoid awkward wires that would be needed to run from the surrounding buildings for such an event. As awesome as a concert area on campus sounds, Webb emphasized that the new stage was more back-porch than Wembley.
     “Shooting off the hip, it could fit about 100 to 150 people comfortably,” Webb said.
     Maybe more important than an amphitheater on campus is the prospect of more parking that will come with the completion of the project, but it appears that students will not reap any benefits of the additional spaces.
     Of the 15 to 21 new spots that will open up, it is likely that other than the few spots for Bell residents loading and unloading, students will not be allowed to park in the lot.
     “What the spots are used for is determined by a committee,” Webb said.
     The recent increase in demand for parking caused the University to go back and change some of their initial plans for the construction area.
     “The area went from no parking originally, to just lawn and handicap parking,” Webb said. “It was supposed to be a lawn area for Bell Hall, but we went back and added some parking.”
The finished project, which will end up costing right at $492,000, will carry several other improvements for students, the most important being the completion of the Main Campus Walkway. The Walkway was designed to enable students to walk from Clarke Street to Wilkinson Street without having to cross any roads and avoid any cars.
     “For the residents of Bell Hall there will be a new containment area for trash in a screened in area, no longer will there be that dumpster sitting out in plain view,” Webb said of additional features that will be in the area.
    The project is an integral part of the campus master plan, which is to convert more areas around the historic core of campus to green space. The new and improved Bell Hall parking lot will add more green space on campus without losing too much parking.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 18 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry