USC Projects & Construction (excluding Innovista)

[BrasilnSC]

^ I agree. A green space around the stadium would make a world of difference. Just move them to the Farmer's Market lot, if it ever moves.

[Spartan]

I tend to agree. they should be provided with a reasonable relocation, and I expect that is the problem. I'm guessing they will carve some space out of the Full Scholarship lot to make it work.

[TheCarolinaKing]

how about a good ol' garage!

[scguy88]

Passed Sarge Frye today and noticed they have put up (must have been in the last week or so) the design drawing for the Student Athlete Enrinchment Center out front along Heyward St. Looks to be pretty neat, will look kind of odd out by itself though (atleast until the rest of the Roost area is redeveloped). Does anyone have any renderings of this to post?

[waccamatt]

Here is the link to the academic enrichment center; the "Dodie".

The Dodie

[Spartan]

This will be great. We will need this in order to get an retain good recruits... hopefully this will play a role in their cumulative GPA rising. Significantly.

[BrasilnSC]

A new sign has been put up at the formerly named Colonial Center. The new "Colonial Life Arena" sign looks bigger and could possibly be brighter. Large Gamecock logo's also anchor both sides.

[Spartan]

That sucks. I liked the sound of the "Colonial Center" and I was always glad that they didn't name it the Colonial Life Center. Now its even worse.

Actually, I liked Carolina Center the best. JMHO.

[dobboard]

^^^ I could not agree more.

[Captain Worley]

Man, I hate when stuff is renamed...

[Ronak]

The renaming is part of the rebranding of Colonial Life (which officially changed it's name this year).

Seeing as how they're paying $500,000 annually to the university for the sponsorship, I'm willing to grant a little latitude.

[johnpro318]

Welcome to forum Ronak!

[Ronak]

Welcome to forum Ronak!

Thanks!

I've been lurking around here for a while, I just haven't posted.

[CorgiMatt]

Has anyone driven by Williams-Brice Stadium in the past week? OMG!! USC in conjunction with the State Fair grounds (Maybe just the State Fair is doing it.) is planting 200 grand trees and building infrastructure in the fair grounds parking lot. The ground has been tilled and smoothed out over the entire property, and there are stakes all over the place marking where the infrastructure will be built. Tail-gating will take place in a park from now on!

[IRR-SC]

Has anyone driven by Williams-Brice Stadium in the past week? OMG!! USC in conjunction with the State Fair grounds (Maybe just the State Fair is doing it.) is planting 200 grand trees and building infrastructure in the fair grounds parking lot. The ground has been tilled and smoothed out over the entire property, and there are stakes all over the place marking where the infrastructure will be built. Tail-gating will take place in a park from now on!

They are building an underground retention pond in the fairgrounds parking lot. Also, the intersection of Shop Road and George Rogers Blvd will be reworked to help with traffic flow. I'll post pictures on Monday.

[johnpro318]

Has anyone driven by Williams-Brice Stadium in the past week? OMG!! USC in conjunction with the State Fair grounds (Maybe just the State Fair is doing it.) is planting 200 grand trees and building infrastructure in the fair grounds parking lot. The ground has been tilled and smoothed out over the entire property, and there are stakes all over the place marking where the infrastructure will be built. Tail-gating will take place in a park from now on!

Awesome! I always thought they should have more trees around there (there isn't a reason why they shouldn't) and it makes Columbia look better during football games. haha

[Spartan]

Yeah the tailgating is going to improve dramatically. They are planting rows of mature shade trees with grass parking.

More info here: SC State Fair Parking Improvements [pdf]

They are also planning to remove a lot of the asphalt around the stadium and plant more grass/trees there too.

Long term they want to look at lowering George Rogers Blvd to create a wide pedestrian bridge leading to the stadium.

There is also talk about the Farmer's Market area. USC Athletics Director Eric Hyman said that the area will be greener- meaning everything in there will go. I assume the parking there would look similar to the design for the State Fair parking. He also said we are going to put a Brick "road" down the middle of that whole area and let fans buy bricks and have them with their name on it. There will be a new road behind it and the players are going to have the Gamecock Walk moved to that route to access the stadium. He liked "The Garnet Brick Road" as a name of it. He likes how Ole Miss has "The Grove" and wouldn't mind doing something like that.

USC Football/Tailgating will be improved dramatically.

[johnpro318]

Yeah the tailgating is going to improve dramatically. They are planting rows of mature shade trees with grass parking.

More info here: SC State Fair Parking Improvements [pdf]

They are also planning to remove a lot of the asphalt around the stadium and plant more grass/trees there too.

Long term they want to look at lowering George Rogers Blvd to create a wide pedestrian bridge leading to the stadium.

There is also talk about the Farmer's Market area. USC Athletics Director Eric Hyman said that the area will be greener- meaning everything in there will go. I assume the parking there would look similar to the design for the State Fair parking. He also said we are going to put a Brick "road" down the middle of that whole area and let fans buy bricks and have them with their name on it. There will be a new road behind it and the players are going to have the Gamecock Walk moved to that route to access the stadium. He liked "The Garnet Brick Road" as a name of it. He likes how Ole Miss has "The Grove" and wouldn't mind doing something like that.

USC Football/Tailgating will be improved dramatically.

Perfect.

[waccamatt]

I'm so glad to see the improvements at the Fairgrounds and I can't wait for the University to buy the Farmer's Market property. Slowly, but surely the area around the stadium is developing into a cool environment. Once the economy improves hopefully even more of the warehouses immediately around the stadium will be converted to other uses.

[BryCola]

I was over by the fairgrounds at lunch yesterday, and man there sure is a lot of activity going on. The whole fairgrounds parking lot looks like one big construction site. All of the grass and asphalt has been torn up, and there is lots of construction equipment around. Very good to see. I like parking in the fairgrounds for Carolina football, but the dustbowl that it sometimes becomes is not very pleasant.

[dobboard]

I found the following listed in the USC Board of Trustees September minutes regarding an upcoming streetscaping of S. Sumter St.

C. South Sumter Street Streetscaping: This project would continue the streetscaping/landscaping efforts to improve safety and beautification of the campus on South Sumter Street from Rocky Branch Creek to Whaley Street. Streetscape improvements would include narrowing of traffic lanes, removal of on-street parking, installation of pedestrian scale street lighting, creation of landscaped tree zones and installation of new walkways where required. Additional improvements would include landscaping, irrigation, improvement of service areas and service access.

This phase of the streetscaping plan was budgeted at $1 million. Approval was requested to fund only the initial design and development of a cost estimate for the project.

The minutes also touch on a potential expansion of the USC Greek Village.

Greek Village Options: Mr. Kelly discussed potential sites for

consideration of another Greek Village unit, and noted the number of houses that could be built on each. The site options included: two sites on College Street; three sites on Blossom Street; and one site on Catawba Street. He explained the pros and cons of development on each site.

Chairman Lister asked if interest to build houses had been received from Fraternities and Sororities. Dr. Pruitt responded yes, and that in order to create a village community a minimum of ten houses, along with open space, was recommended. He explained the importance of not splintering several small Greek village clusters, from a safety, an economic, and a service standpoint.

[BrasilnSC]

I was driving down Assembly St yesterday and saw a crane and steel going up near the Roost and USC's indoor facilities. I didn't have time to actually drive by the site however. Anyone have a clue? Is this part of the athletic enrichment center that was proposed?

[dobboard]

Yes. The construction of the academic learning center, aka "The Dodie" is in full swing. Last I saw the full steel frame had been erected.

[BrasilnSC]

That's great news...thanks.

[Spartan]

I found these on the internet. The fairgrounds parking lot is making some significant progress. I assume they are not done planting trees, otherwise it's going to be quite embarrassing.

Link