Heard that there is a plan to remove the grass and trees from a large portion of the Quad in favor of adding paving similar to the Citadel Quad. Can anyone shed light on this plan?

Here is the area supposedly being paved outlined in red, cars parked on the left side for construction. Picture is probably 1-2 years old.


Here is what the Citadel has


I would think that with the learning centers somewhat enclosing the central portion of the Quad that there would be absolutely zero air movement. The quad would feel like a brick oven in the summer. I also think it would suck to have cookouts/outfit BBQ's on the brick/cement and not have an area for little brothers to toss a football or run around in the grass. Finally, and I'm not a hippie, but the trees! Won't somebody think of the trees!?

I'm not a "no change ever, bring back old army" kinda guy but I think that if this is true it is as crappy of an idea that I have seen in a while.



[This message has been edited by rilloaggie (edited 3/5/2014 5:22p).]

Agreed, bad idea. I have been to The Citadel, walked on that courtyard. Place is like a prison. Yecccch.

BAD idea. I like the trees and the grass. The Citadel looks like a prison yard.

Leave it alone.

Stop messing with stuff. Besides, wouldn't having this type of ground make it a safety hazard when it rains? Cadets might slip and fall

Found more info, check page 17 of the pdf. Apparently this is already in the works.

Also pages 26 onward show more detail. Apparently the issue is inadequate drainage makes it hard to keep grass growing. Will there not still be drainage issues by increasing the impermeable surface area of the quad?

http://corps.tamu.edu/pdfs/corpsmasterplanfinal.pdf

[This message has been edited by rilloaggie (edited 3/6/2014 1:12p).]

Thanks for finding that. I've seen it before, but I'd forgotten about it.

The repaving doesn't look as bad as I thought, and it preserves and adds some trees. I still wouldn't do it, personally.

I would guess it will be many, many years before much of this gets done, because it looks quite expensive.

It's definitely not as cold and jail like as the Citadel, but it's definitely kind of cold. It definitely wouldn't be the recreational gathering area of the past, and having the "extra green space" of the current band field's location just isn't quite the same. Nobody walks past the band field on the way to and from anywhere except their car in South Side Garage.

Maybe it would prevent what happened to me at Elephant Walk when those (no)class of '91 SOBs lifted up the drainage grate in front of Dorm 5 and put me in the hole. Then they moved the large "Ranger PT Platform" over and put one of its massive legs on top of the grate.

I was trapped like a rat and I don't even want to know the contents of everything they poured down in there on me.

I say pave it all!!

The simple solution to saving the grass would be to have cadets go someplace else to play mud football when it rains. When I was there that was the number one thing that ate up the grass.

I think it's a bad idea.

I have great memories of mud football. But we played (1967-1971) to the NE side of Dorm 1 where those non-reg dorms are now. What a loss!

So what is happening to the Band Hall?

A new one is to be built, but I'm fuzzy as to exactly where. Someone posted earlier that the present Band can't fit in the current one.

New band hall and drill field will be built on the remaining section of the Duncan drill field

As long as the new Band Hall belongs to the FTAB and the Corps of Cadets and NOT to some Dept of Liberal Arts Music School. Not a dime of my money would go to support a stealth non-reg takeover of the Aggie Band. Period.

If the cadets will stay off the grass, I say leave it. But if it continues to be the eyesore it has been since the 70's, I'm in favor of bricking it in. It looks awful.

If they can fund this plan in it's entirety I say pave it

With how much it'll cost to pave it, I bet they could install a better drainage system. I can't imagine how hot it is going to be.

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and NOT to some Dept of Liberal Arts Music School

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It's coming.

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With how much it'll cost to pave it, I bet they could install a better drainage system. I can't imagine how hot it is going to be.

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I'd think they'll have to improve drainage either way, it would be a swimming pool if they don't. I've got another idea, make grass a senior privilege. That would cut down on the use!

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I've got another idea, make grass a senior privilege

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are you kidding or being serious?

A little bit of both. It was a zip privilege when I was there, c/o 2009, but wasn't really enforced as long as you had a decent reason to be on the grass. Make the butts-fish classes play catch on Duncan or elsewhere. If you were I pt gear you pretty much had a free pass to do whatever on the grass during my tenure.

Just checking..it was a zip privilege in the 80's and the seniors were more than happy to punish those who took grass without permission.

Taking the grass was a Zip privilege in '86-90.

But as someone said, mud football did away with the grass PDQ. It sure was fun though.

According to the renederings I saw, the new "Music Building" (or whatever it will be called) will have separate rehearsal areas for the FTAB and the other groups. Don't remember whether there's any space for the basketball band or not.... and I don't know where they rehearse now.

The drill field will be adjacent to the new building, and all are planned to be on the western portion of Duncan Field.

$30 mil is the price tag I heard.....

Musicman are these plans available online?

I don't believe so.

I can't believe that nobody mentioned the architect's rendering of the Aggie Band Drill Field as a track.

It's a track and obstacle course.

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I've got another idea, make grass a senior privilege. That would cut down on the use!

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The funny thing about zip privileges is that many of them are things that zips should generally avoid doing themselves (or so I was told). Taking grass, for example, killed grass, made the campus look bad, and as a zip you're supposed to care enough about the school that you forgo your privilege in order to do what's better for the school.

Some outfits didn't really care to enforce any class system, other than a fish/upperclassmen system. So when I yelled at their butts to get off the grass, I'd either get ignored (initially) or told that they have a senior's permission to be on the grass.

From what I recall, cadets are the ones who suggested those grass areas be paved. There were complaints of not enough areas to do Open Rank Inspections, March, drill

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There were complaints of not enough areas to do Open Rank Inspections, March, drill

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Seriously? From my time there I just can't imagine any cadets saying "I sure wish we had more space for drill and less space for throwing around a football or playing ultimate."

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There were complaints of not enough areas to do Open Rank Inspections, March, drill

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here's a suggestion: Main(Simpson)Drill Field or Polo Field.

Grass going on Kyle Field to represent the Corps.

It would appear that this is all but a done deal from what I've heard from the corps of cadets offices. Hope it turns out better than I expect it will.