Saddlemire Close to Being Torn Down

[Falconfreak90]

I have a memory of Saddlemire. It was my frosh year and a wannabe hair band was playing down under in the concrete area for a welcome back to school day. It was the 2nd or 3rd day at BGSU for me and some pretty blonde named Veronica walked up to me and we started yakkin'. I ended up taking her to a Journey concert in Cobo Hall a month later and my car ended up getting towed. We walked around Detroit for an hour until we found it. I was sure we were gonna get mugged or worse. There was a parking ticket on my car which ended up in the trash can.

I never liked the layout of the building but it was different.

[Rightupinthere]

I have a memory of Saddlemire. It was my frosh year and a wannabe hair band was playing down under in the concrete area for a welcome back to school day. It was the 2nd or 3rd day at BGSU for me and some pretty blonde named Veronica walked up to me and we started yakkin'. I ended up taking her to a Journey concert in Cobo Hall a month later and my car ended up getting towed. We walked around Detroit for an hour until we found it. I was sure we were gonna get mugged or worse. There was a parking ticket on my car which ended up in the trash can.

I never liked the layout of the building but it was different.

You mean they're tearing down Saddlemire because of your unpaid parking tickets?

Good job, Freak.

Dick.

[Falconfreak90]

I have a memory of Saddlemire. It was my frosh year and a wannabe hair band was playing down under in the concrete area for a welcome back to school day. It was the 2nd or 3rd day at BGSU for me and some pretty blonde named Veronica walked up to me and we started yakkin'. I ended up taking her to a Journey concert in Cobo Hall a month later and my car ended up getting towed. We walked around Detroit for an hour until we found it. I was sure we were gonna get mugged or worse. There was a parking ticket on my car which ended up in the trash can.

I never liked the layout of the building but it was different.

You mean they're tearing down Saddlemire because of your unpaid parking tickets?

Good job, Freak.

Dick.

Yes, RUIT, I confess. That's the reason Saddlemire is no more.

[The Niz]

I will not miss the building at all. I am way too excited about the Wolfe building to care about a building that very few people ever use.

The Office of Residence Life isn't a very used office? Or the Vice President of Student Affairs? Sorry, but you're a bit out of line with that comment.

Said offices have already been moved to buildings where they will remain visited just infrequently as they have been during my tenure so far.

As far as student employment/career center, I did go there once to visit the student employment office, they were of absolutely no help or use as all they did was sit me at a computer and bring up the web page I had just finished looking over in my dorm room.

I believe I am quite in line with my comment, I lived in Kriescher last year, and never really saw anything more than the actual building employees going in and out. It, like Kreischer and Harshman, are good ideas, just not condusive to the way student do things anymore. All three should go really, but with all the renovations and landscaping going on at the two dorms over the last two summers, it looks like we'll just have to be happy enough with Saddlemire going down.

[BGDrew]

I never use Centrex, Shatzel, or the TV station. Therefor, it is useless and is alright to be torn down. Just because you don't use a building, doesn't mean it's unimportant or unused.

Regarding your comment about living in Kreischer and not seeing people go into the building, could it be because you didn't see the main entrance? Was the building useless when the bookstore was located on the bottom floor?

Sorry Niz, but there isn't a single reputable University that doesn't have a "Student Services" building. VPSA, ResLife, Office of Multicultural Incentives, Student Employment, Co-Op Office, Student Tech, RCC, and the School of Architecture were all located in that one office building. And to call these offices and building unimportant is very short-sighted.

[transfer2BGSU]

Saddlemire demolition phase to begin Monday

Activity around the Saddlemire Student Services Building will intensify Monday as the 40-day demolition period begins.

Marc Brunner, project manager in the Office of Design and Construction, said the work will likely begin with removal of the trees and shrubs inside the fence that now surrounds the building, plus construction of a "road"--probably steel plates under gravel--connecting the site with Ridge Street. He added, however, that the contractor, Baumann Enterprises of Garfield Heights, has some latitude in determining how the incremental process will proceed.

Brunner pointed out that the demolition phase could be completed in much fewer than 40 days, but about 75 percent of the building is being recycled and the materials--including steel, copper and other materials--must be sorted on site. Concrete will be ground on site also for use as fill there.

Power to Saddlemire will be shut down as of Monday morning. At the same time, the portion of Ridge Street between Mercer Road and Willard Drive will close to traffic except construction and emergency vehicles. To reach parking lots N, 14 and O, as well as buildings farther west along Ridge Street, motorists will have to take East Merry Avenue to Willard, then turn right onto Ridge. No parking lots are expected to close during the project, which Brunner said is on schedule.

[BGFan]

I have a memory of Saddlemire. It was my frosh year and a wannabe hair band was playing down under in the concrete area for a welcome back to school day. It was the 2nd or 3rd day at BGSU for me and some pretty blonde named Veronica walked up to me and we started yakkin'. I ended up taking her to a Journey concert in Cobo Hall a month later and my car ended up getting towed. We walked around Detroit for an hour until we found it. I was sure we were gonna get mugged or worse. There was a parking ticket on my car which ended up in the trash can.

I never liked the layout of the building but it was different.

Hmmm, I wonder if there's a bench warrant in Detroit for an unpaid parking ticket for the deviant mister Falconfreak90? The Freaklings may have a potential con for an old man!

[Tech83]

I never use Centrex, Shatzel, or the TV station. Therefor, it is useless and is alright to be torn down. Just because you don't use a building, doesn't mean it's unimportant or unused.

Regarding your comment about living in Kreischer and not seeing people go into the building, could it be because you didn't see the main entrance? Was the building useless when the bookstore was located on the bottom floor?

Sorry Niz, but there isn't a single reputable University that doesn't have a "Student Services" building. VPSA, ResLife, Office of Multicultural Incentives, Student Employment, Co-Op Office, Student Tech, RCC, and the School of Architecture were all located in that one office building. And to call these offices and building unimportant is very short-sighted.

I have to throw my 2 cents in here. The design of Saddlemire is important. The round centralized form embodied the idea of the Student being important. It wasn't called Saddlemire when I was at BG - It was called Student Services. It is easily the most responsive design on campus to its program and a real shame it is being torn down. The centralized design has its roots in the Idealized Church of the Renaissance. Somethimes I really hate the architectural powers at BG.

[BGSU33]

Does anyone have any photos of what this project looks like right now?

[BGDrew]

I can swing by and grab some pictures tomorrow if you'd like. I drove by today and a TON of work has already been done. The bottom glass area is non existent and all the glass is gone.

[BGSU33]

I can swing by and grab some pictures tomorrow if you'd like. I drove by today and a TON of work has already been done. The bottom glass area is non existent and all the glass is gone.

Thanks man, that would be cool of you to do. I was wondering how much area is fenced off and how far along the construction was at this point. If you do swing by with a camera, I was wondering if there was any chance you might be able to also snap a shot or two of the new trees I heard they replanted in place of all the ones they cut down in front of Anderson Arena? The last time I was on campus, they were all removed and it looked bad. Do you know if they are still removing more trees on campus or if this was the only spot they had to remove them from? Thanks again.

[BGDrew]

Sadly I've been too busy today and when I haven't been, it's been raining. I'll get some pictures ASAP.

[BGSU33]

For those of you who are “in the know,” please feel free to make sure I am pointed in the right direction on this topic. I have only heard bits and pieces of what is supposed to be taking shape on campus in the years to come, and I wanted to make sure I was on the same page with what is planned to occur.

Is the reason they are tearing down Saddlemire in order to make room for the new Arts Center I have heard we are building? If so, when is the actually ground-breaking supposed to occur on the new facility? Is anything else supposed to be built in this area as part of the project? I was under the impression that the arts center was going to go more in the open area between the Saddlemire and the quad. Will it utilize that open area plus this space we are freeing up with the removal of the Saddlemire?

[ZiggyZoomba]

Here's a few photos of the demolition as of Monday 8/6

http://picasaweb.google.com/pepperguy/BGSU868807

[BGSU33]

It’s so weird to see this building going down. But with that said, I’m sure it will make way for a great new facility in its place. It sounds like it’s going to be a year and a half (18 months) before they start work on the Wolf Center according to this release, and another three and a half years from now before it is finished.

http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/mc/news/2007/news34650.html

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Bowling Green State University's Saddlemire Student Services Building is being torn down to make room for the future Wolfe Center for the Arts.

Demolition of the 40-year-old campus landmark—commonly called simply “the round building”—began in late July and will continue through August and possibly into early September. The demolition period also includes time for on-site sorting of recyclable material—about 75 percent of the building is being recycled—and grinding of concrete for use as fill. No work will be done during student move-in weekend, beginning Aug. 16.

For the hauling of nonrecyclable material from the site, the portion of Ridge Street between Mercer Road and Willard Drive will close to traffic except construction and emergency vehicles. To reach parking lots N, 14 and O, as well as buildings farther west along Ridge Street, motorists will have to take East Merry Avenue to Willard, then turn right onto Ridge.

Offices formerly located in Saddlemire moved during June, many of them to Conklin North. Construction of the Wolfe Center will probably begin in a little under 18 months. The construction time frame for the new arts center is about two years; a new student services building is still a few years away.