University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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SAVING OLD MAIN •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••A Baldwin Shell Construction Com- pany of Little Rock earned the bid to renovate Old Main. After the resto ration is completed, the building will include air conditioning, elevators and 100,000 more square feet. D. ALLEN PHOTO ANOTHER BRICK Benton McClellond and Ray White house attempt to patch up deterio rated walls by laying new bricks in Old Main. Out of the three bids received by the University, Baldwin Shell Construction Co. submit ted a low bid of $9,848,952 to re store Old Main. Most of the changes will occur in the interior of Old Main, with only minor changes planned for the exterior. D. ALLEN PHOTO GATE CRASHING During the gate crashing during the summer, Chancellor Dan Ferritor speaks to a croud of approximately 500. “The ‘hated fence was a bar rier that had to be scaled in order to succeed, and that was what the University was doing.” The eight foot fence blocked students from Old Main for eight years. D. ALLEN PHOTO Student Life

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o . GO BIG RED. Razorback fans by the thousands invaded Dallas for the Cotton BowL Fans came equipped with every piece of Hog paraphernalia they could find. Angela Phillips, with her Arkansas cowboy hat, shows she is a real Razorback fan. R. ROBINSON PHOTO Studej f Life Divider

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AFTER STANDING VACANT, LOCKED BEHIND A FENCE, OLD MAIN UNDERGOES A DRAMATIC C onstruction workers start restoring the state ' s symbol of higher education after a Save Old Main fund drive raises $11.3 million. My parents had classes in Old Main during the ‘70’s when they only used the first floor of the that it will be neat to be among the first to take classes in the renovated Old Main •ng considering my parents w «e almost the last JENNIFER ROBBINS BY LIZ VANZANT Towering above the campus and secured by an eight-foot fence, Old Main stood silently empty. Students wondered whether they would ever see the oldest building on campus and the symbol of higher education in Arkansas bustling with activity. However when classes resumed in the fall, plenty of activity was taking place behind the fence. Pounding echoed from inside the old structure. Construction lights flickered in the windows. Dump trucks and wheelbarrows circled the building. And along with the construction came the anticipation that the aging wreck would once again stand with pride in the center of campus. While students were away during the summer, a crowd of 500 watched Chancellor Dan Ferritor and ASG President Eric Munson cut the chain that locked the fence around the 115- year-old building. Construction was underway. The project is a restoration rather than a renovation. Work¬ ers will repair the parts of the building that remain. Any rebuilding will match the original construction. Declared unsafe in 1981, the structure, which opened in •1875, was vacated and fenced to keep vandals and students out. Fund-raising campaigns were conducted and a total of $12 million was raised by 1989 through state revenues, private donations and a bond issue to pay for the renovation. “The restoration of Old Main is necessary. The building rep¬ resents the beginning of the University,” said sophomore Shan¬ non Mayhew. When the work on Old Main is completed there will be 100,000 additional square feet of space. The extra space will house the offices of the J. W illiam Fulbr ight College of Arts and Sciences, the office of the president, classrooms, labs, auditori¬ ums and faculty offices. The restoration project will also provide the structure with air conditioning, elevators and new rooms. The cost was estimated to be about $11.3 million. Even though most of the fence still stands, Old Main’s facelift should should be completed by the spring of 1991. And the fence will be removed for good. OUT WITH THE OLD A Baldwin Shell Construction worker removes unwanted material that can’t be salvaged in the restora¬ tion of Old Main. “The purpose of the project is to repair what is dam¬ aged, rather that replace it,” said project superintendent Karl Bartley. D. ALLEN PHOTO Old Main Restoration