Tht ’he Battalion
he Academic Building stands as a symbol on A&M campus
Aggielife
Page 3 • Tuesday September 29, 1998
for deta •;
Jale Shrickung/The Battalion
Academic Building has been a campus landmark since 1912.
RILEY LAGRONE
The Battalion
E very great institution has a
landmark, a building that
stands out as a symbol of in
tegrity and is immediately notice
able to newcomers. No structure at
Texas A&M fits this description bet
ter than the Academic Building.
The Academic Building was
constructed in 1912 on the site of
the Old Main building, which
burned during the same year. The
new building was the brainchild
of Samuel E. Gideon, a professor
of architecture at A&M.
With fewer than 30 buildings on
campus at the time, the Academic
Building was only the second to be
constructed using reinforced con
crete, giving it the reputation of be
ing built like a fortress. The tech
nique was so new the contractors
did not know how much steel they
needed to support the structure.
They decided the best option was
to use a conservative amount and
then double it.
The idea seemed to work out
fine until drinking fountains were
“In order to run pipes and drains
to the various floors it was necessary
to cut holes in the concrete slabs,”
Langford wrote. “In cutting these
holes the workmen exposed a veri
table mesh of steel reinforcing bars
— so many in fact that the only way
a rch itectu re
k
installed in the mid-1930s. Dr.
Earnest Langford, former head of
architecture at A&M, wrote about
the problem in his book Here We’ll
Build the College.
they could be removed was to burn
them out with a torch.”
The building not only has a
reputation as one of the most
durable on campus — it was des
ignated as a bomb shelter in the
1950s — but one of the most ver
satile as well. During its history,
the building has housed presiden
tial and personnel offices, class
rooms, academic offices, the main
library and even a bookstore.
Through upkeep efforts, the
Academic Building has remained
not only one of A&M’s strongest,
but also one of the most memo
rable and striking buildings.
It is home to one of the Univer
sity’s most historic possessions, a
Liberty Bell replica given to the
school by former Gov. Allan Shiv
ers in recognition of the sacrifices
made by Aggies for their nation.
The Lawrence Sullivan Ross
statue —or “Sully” — stands in
front of the building. It was sculpt
ed by Pompeo Coppini.
see Academic on Page 4.
astSl
CUSSiOf
3:30 to; I
neisw f
6 for tel
meed Arena offers glimpse at future of architecture at A&M
KYLE WHITACRE
The Battalion
Club: Ttls 243,000 square feet in gross
iesdayr;Mea, cost $32.2 million to build
MenteBid was opened a short time
skydiviToj And it is not the Student
se yw conation Center.
jat69«he building in question is
lail.oxnBs A&M’s new Reed Arena, the
lull -purpose basketball arena
gicalSniatlwas opened up last spring.
:ture ak.Hhe arena was opened April 21
jRockA r jie tirst event to be held at the
I la was Aggie Muster
leed Arena was named by the
eling ;&xis A&M University System
itta Stt bard of Regents after Chester
,m. to6::jid Billie Jean Reed, who have
: ountai(i : ?e|i supporters and contributors
3 tie University for many years,
leed earned his doctorate in
etJrinary medicine at Texas
Win 1947.
Jhe new arena is not only
t&M building to bear the name of
the couple.
The Reed House, home of the
chancellor of the Texas A&M Uni
versity System, is named in their
honor as well. The house is lo
cated off George Bush Drive.
The Reed Arena is a look at the
potential and future of Texas A&M.
The University finally has a
stadium arena large enough to at
tract entertainment acts as well as
providing a new home for Texas
A&M basketball and graduation.
The Reed Arena now puts
Texas A&M University one step
closer to its ideal of being a
world-class university.
In addition to Aggie Muster
and basketball games, the arena
will be used to host a variety of
events, including concerts,
tradeshows, commencement ac
tivities, convention activities,
banquets and rodeos.
The main arena can accomodate
as many as 12,500 fans for basket
ball games, 11,500 guests for con
certs and other special events and
2,000 for a sit-down dinner.
Reed Arena also contains a
6,000 square-foot area that over
looks the arena, four meeting
rooms of 1,200 square feet, a prac
tice gym and 10 concession stands.
Other facilities offered by Reed
Arena are lockers for athletic teams,
a catering kitchen, a green room,
storage areas, a first-aid treatment
room and a loading dock.
The main arena, which is
home to Texas A&M basketball, is
2,500 square feet and has two lev
els of seating.
The main level can holds 7,500
and the balcony level can hold
5,000 people.
The concourse level has 360 de
gree seating, while the balcony lev
el provides three-quarters of that.
The stadium is built in a dou
ble-bowl configuration and is
seven stories high from the main
'alias
d Los
ilnate
*11
r, Editor 1
!g Editor
Arts
Editor
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
Business Night
Information Session with:
* Marketing and Sales
* Information Technology
* Human Resources
* Purchasing
Reception with Food and Beverages following
presentation.
Wednesday,
September 30
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Clayton Williams Alumni Center
exhibit floor, which is built 30
feet below ground level, to the
ceiling towering above.
The ceiling is built to handle
100,000 pounds of special light
ing and sound equipment.
In the early ‘80s when Texas
A&M decided they were going to
need a new arena.
Several studies were conduct
ed to see what type of facility
they would need to accommo
date special events at College
Station as well as hosting the
basketball team.
Over the next decade several
stages of planning and a more
generalized focus on what was
needed took shape.
A multi-purpose arena was
needed to accommodate the stu
dent body of the third-largest uni
versity in the United States.
see Railroad on Page 10.
The Reed Arena, which was opened in the spring, is home to many
different events including Aggie basketball games and commencement.
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