UNC-Charlotte Construction

[Niner National]

21 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I was at UNCC when it was being demolished. Lots of students protested, a lot. It was a spot people liked to hang out or pass out little flyers and was a gathering place of sorts. 

Edit: I hate the rebrand. Any other alumni like the new look? I think I dislike it because I still wear my UNCC stuff often and my diploma and such has the old UNCC logo on it. 

I love the new look. The old logo was hot garbage. Looked like some 90's wordart. A block letter logo is a lot more in line with other big time institutions, at least on the athletic front. That jumbled up blob of an old logo was hard to print and limited our apparel options as well.

[KJHburg]

I am guessing this crane on the campus as seen from N Tryon St is for the Moore Hall replacement.  Is that correct? 

[allthingsplanes]

Yep.  

[rancenc]

Aerial view of the campus's football stadium.

 

[kermit]

A $10 million gift will build a "student outdoor event venue and tailgate park". If you squint it looks a bit like a sprawly (based on location on the edge of campus beside a five line highway) version of the Grove at Old Miss.

https://inside.charlotte.edu/news-features/2022-02-01/10-million-gift-help-transform-charlotte-student-experience

Edited February 1, 2022 by kermit

[ArchiCLT]

Does this mean that the Charlotte Engineering Early College's plans to relocate to this land is dead? Is it staying in the bricked-up trailers beside CRI Deck?

[JRCLT]

May not be in that exact spot… anyone with info on that?

[carolinaboy]

My daughter started going to UNC Charlotte in the fall. I thought the kiddos needed somewhere to tailgate. You're welcome.

[RANYC]

My cousin just relocated to Charlotte from Boston with a new job (and new Charlotte-born bride).  We took a drive today and spontaneously decided to check out the UNC Charlotte campus.  I was absolutely blown away.  The campus is one of the most stunning ones I've seen, and nearly every building I saw makes a powerful aesthetic, neo-classical statement.  Dare I say it, the UNC Charlotte campus is a local treasure.  If Charlotte gets a new professional football stadium, nothing would radiate Carolina pride like incorporating the brick colonial motif such as one finds at the 49ers Stadium.  A perfect model to follow.  Modern glass is so over-rated.  The Carolina brick looked warm, stunning, and endearing.  For a campus built in the 1940s, it rivals any Ivy League school I've seen. 

Edited March 21, 2022 by RANYC

[deleted account]

17 hours ago, RANYC said:

My cousin just relocated to Charlotte from Boston with a new job (and new Charlotte-born bride).  We took a drive today and spontaneously decided to check out the UNC Charlotte campus.  I was absolutely blown away.  The campus is one of the most stunning ones I've seen, and nearly every building I saw makes a powerful aesthetic, neo-classical statement.  Dare I say it, the UNC Charlotte campus is a local treasure.  If Charlotte gets a new professional football stadium, nothing would radiate Carolina pride like incorporating the brick colonial motif such as one finds at the 49ers Stadium.  A perfect model to follow.  Modern glass is so over-rated.  The Carolina brick looked warm, stunning, and endearing.  For a campus built in the 1940s, it rivals any Ivy League school I've seen. 

Gee, I dunno. I've had 3 kids graduate so far and I like the campus, particularly the topography (students like the hills less). The architecture is...uniform and reminiscent of a South Charlotte office park. I definitely wouldn't favorably compare it to most Ivy League campuses. As for the stadium, you are pretty much describing Lucas Oil stadium in Indianapolis (and Spectrum Arena here) and those are fine. I hope we do something much more architecturally ambitious for the NFL stadium. Needless to say, these are all subjective opinions and there seems to be support for your position. Also, I'm guessing the parts of the campus you admire were built in the past 20 years. The older stuff is bad...

Edited March 22, 2022 by JBS

[RANYC]

Yes, they were my opinions and still very proud of what I saw.  If there are other examples of what I saw in Indianapolis and in South Carolina, well ok, there's rarely anything totally new under the sun.  Doesn't change my enjoyment of the campus, and I'm choosing to revel in the simple joy of the beauty in what I saw, then to critique and compare unto my own dissatisfaction.  Ivy League schools as a peer group are quite old, and age is likely a factor in their charm, or a factor in people's perception of their charm & beauty.  UNCC can't beat them on the variable of age and its impact on history and renown, but discounting that age variable, I believe UNCC has done a phenomenal job, and the campus is set up to age incredibly well.  Would rather walk its grounds than those of UPenn and Dartmouth any day.

Perhaps what UNCC lacks in age, it makes up for it in inclusivity and local relevance.

Edited March 22, 2022 by RANYC

[videtur quam contuor]

For those who visit a private university and compare to a public, a major difference is land use. Public institutions must extract value from all land, while private institutions may be extravagant in their open space. Public universities need to consider their future expansion of perhaps thousands of students over time while private schools have much less concern for such issues. Public schools may have lovely landscaping but it is limited to the space between the buildings and the streets. Privates have grand greenscapes, trees, entrances, quads and courts. Publics far less so. Privates have art in the building lobbies, carpet, soft surfaces that are allowed with less traffic and footfall. They may have interior plants with horticultural care, just everything that says money. Publics must make the most of their limited appropriation.*

I attended UNCC in the early 70's, my wife was in the original class that attended the first four years at the current location. The buildings of that time were useful rather than beautiful. The dormitories were brutalist concrete structures, a blot on the landscape, the sky and the eyes. There was no continuity of design. The redesign from ~30 years ago envisioned a Carolina brick appearance that expresses the architectural vernacular of our region, a common appearance, and a sense of timelessness. My issue is that a visit makes it difficult to locate a structure since they are so similar. 

*I was in the James B. Hunt research library at the NCSU Centennial Campus last week. It is a fine contemporary building that expresses the building function from the outside, as good architecture should. No open stacks. One requests a book from the online resource and a robot retrieval system removes the book from 40-50 foot high shelves and containers and using RFID or some similar technology delivers the book to the patron. Much electronic resource space, meetings and more. The only art, other than the colors of the building and the design was a traditional painting in the lobby of the former governor himself. Centennial Campus is the exception to the Public school space constraint factor. 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by tarhoosier

[RANYC]

42 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

For those who visit a private university and compare to a public, a major difference is land use. Public institutions must extract value from all land, while private institutions may be extravagant in their open space. Public universities need to consider their future expansion of perhaps thousands of students over time while private schools have much less concern for such issues. Public schools may have lovely landscaping but it is limited to the space between the buildings and the streets. Privates have grand greenscapes, trees, entrances, quads and courts. Publics far less so. Privates have art in the building lobbies, carpet, soft surfaces that are allowed with less traffic and footfall. They may have interior plants with horticultural care, just everything that says money. Publics must make the most of their limited appropriation.*

I attended UNCC in the early 70's, my wife was in the original class that attended the first four years at the current location. The buildings of that time were useful rather than beautiful. The dormitories were brutalist concrete structures, a blot on the landscape, the sky and the eyes. There was no continuity of design. The redesign from ~30 years ago envisioned a Carolina brick appearance that expresses the architectural vernacular of our region, a common appearance, and a sense of timelessness. My issue is that a visit makes it difficult to locate a structure since they are so similar. 

*I was in the James B. Hunt research library at the NCSU Centennial Campus last week. It is a fine contemporary building that expresses the building function from the outside, as good architecture should. No open stacks. One requests a book from the online resource and a robot retrieval system removes the book from 40-50 foot high shelves and containers and using RFID or some similar technology delivers the book to the patron. Much electronic resource space, meetings and more. The only art, other than the colors of the building and the design was a traditional painting in the lobby of the former governor himself. Centennial Campus is the exception to the Public school space constraint factor. 

 

Interesting points.  Thanks for sharing.  Will agree the buildings don't much celebrate eclecticism.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Carolina brick realism, and why not find the deepest, most extensive, most uniform, and purest expression of Carolina brick than on a Carolina campus in the largest city in the Carolinas. 

Edited March 22, 2022 by RANYC

[Hushpuppy321]

UNC-Charlotte continues to punch above its weight/age with the newly released Expansion Plans for their Athletic Facilities.  Take a look via this link.  The plans seem to be very significant….

https://charlotteevergreen.com/ 

[DavieNative]

Charlotte athletics are going to show off some impressive new expansions in the coming years.  With the move to the AAC and bigger competition coming to play in Charlotte a trip to campus for sports is well worth your time! Go Niners!

[TheOneRJ]

12-15 years is a little ridiculous. By that time these planned improvements will likely be outdated themselves. 

[JRCLT]

12-15 years is a little ridiculous. By that time these planned improvements will likely be outdated themselves. 

Don’t think you understand what that means…that is the road map timeline for all improvements. It is a reasonable timeline considering all of these upgrades they’re planning for.

[Desert Power]

It's really cool the forethought that went into how to build that stadium for future expansion.

[TheOneRJ]

3 hours ago, JeanClt said:

Don’t think you understand what that means…that is the road map timeline for all improvements. It is a reasonable timeline considering all of these upgrades they’re planning for.

12-15 years to build two clubhouses, a field, and renovate existing spaces is ridiculous. For comparison, the entire football stadium was built in 2 years. 

[JRCLT]

12-15 years to build two clubhouses, a field, and renovate existing spaces is ridiculous. For comparison, the entire football stadium was built in 2 years. 

While that may be true, there are other things that go into this plan. It’s not all about shoveling dirt, pouring concrete, and placing bricks. There’s a lot more that goes on in the background to get these projects completed whether the administration likes it or not. There is no cutting corners or quick way around it if it’s to be done right. Finances are also a huge undertaking considering they plan to make it all privately funded. (If I read that correctly). Unfortunately not every private entity is itching to dump money wherever it’s requested or fundraised.

(The stadium expansion is in the first phase if that’s what you’re worried about lol) *jokes*

There are also schedules that need to be worked around. If they are to play while this is going on (which is likely a goal) things will take time to complete versus shutting everything down. Accommodations slow construction and buildouts.

[Niner National]

3 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

12-15 years to build two clubhouses, a field, and renovate existing spaces is ridiculous. For comparison, the entire football stadium was built in 2 years. 

The 12-15 years included three football expansions, a massive renovation to the basketball arena, an indoor practice facility, a new basketball practice facility, and more. 
 

From what Niner fans in the know have said, it’s very possible the expansion to 30,000 happens all at once within the next 2.5 years. It is included in the $100 million dollar figure. 
 

football, soccer stadium, softball stadium, baseball stadium addition, and a few other things are expected to happen quickly.  The other items are planned for later. 

[KJHburg]

Update on UNC Charlotte construction projects 

https://inside.charlotte.edu/news-features/2022-09-16/campus-construction-update-sept-2022

[DavieNative]

Charlotte is finishing up construction on their newest dorm in south village. I love that they are finally building a modern tradional style student housing. Its more inexpensive for students and provides the best social setting in my personal opinion.

https://inside.charlotte.edu/news-features/2021-12-10/construction-update-phase-16-residence-hall

[KJHburg]

UNC Board of Governors approves stadium expansion at UNCC seating to expand to 18,000 plus.  

UNC Board of Governors approves Jerry Richardson Stadium expansion (wbtv.com)

[csweet]

10 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

UNC Board of Governors approves stadium expansion at UNCC seating to expand to 18,000 plus.  

UNC Board of Governors approves Jerry Richardson Stadium expansion (wbtv.com)

$60 mil for 3,000 GA seats and a few boxes? Nice.