Riddick Field House Coming Down

Pack78

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Riddick Field House Coming Down

#1

02-19-2013, 08:04 PM

For some of us older grads...Riddick was a parking lot with one side of the concrete stands still up during my time in the 70's-believe the campus cops were in the field house at that time.

http://www.technicianonline.com/news...9bb30f31a.html
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highstick

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#2

02-19-2013, 09:42 PM

For some of us "even older", we lived in the other side that was torn down years ago. While there we enjoyed State games on Saturday and it was neat that our "dorm" was the center of attention on Saturdays.

Smells of bacon, pancakes, etc. coming from the Leazar Dining Hall across the street, watching the Broughton cheerleaders disrobe and change clothes from the hall inside the dorm area..Cramped, yet, but it was sorta fun...
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bill.onthebeach

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#3

02-19-2013, 10:37 PM

... not really surprised... IIRC...rumor back then was if they had had the money Dr. Caldwell would have demo'd all of the old stadium, instead of just half and the field.

and then nothing much surprises me anymore...just today's "sign" that the world we live in is not the world we grew up in....

Mr. Stick... my uncle (NCS '56) lived in Riddick a couple years while they were still playing ball on the field.
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44rules

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#4

02-20-2013, 11:44 AM

That one side of the stands was still up in the late '80s, and public safety was still in the old field house.
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highstick

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#5

02-20-2013, 03:55 PM

My first weekend that I was at State was the State-Carolina game so I got a ride over to Chapel Hill for the game and spent the weekend with a couple of my high school classmates that were freshmen at Carolina. It never occurred to me until later that we didn't play Carolina in Raleigh because Riddick was too small. I did go so several other games there though. When I came back in 70, it was a parking deck except for the opposite side and the field house.
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compsciwolf

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#6

02-20-2013, 04:17 PM

@44rules The field house still had public safety and half the stands were still up well into the 2000s. I graduated in 2007 and if I remember correctly the stands were demolished sometime while I was still in school. Around 2005 would be my guess. I think public safety moved around the same time, when the new building was completed over by Doak Field (across the road, but the name of the road escapes me).
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bubba

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#7

02-20-2013, 05:43 PM

I was at ChemE camp in the Summer of 2005 and ran sprints up the remaining side's stairs during my spare time (if I wasn't chasing volleyball camp girls). Transferred to state in '08. First weekend there I went to do the same workout, but the stadium was demo'd.
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highstick

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#8

02-20-2013, 05:55 PM

Back in 63, we'd come out of the dorm entrance which fronted Syme..If I remember correctly, the NCSU radio station was in front of us in Syme on the bottom floor. Think it was my soph year that the admin bldg was burned by the pyromaniac, Watauga became the first female dorm on campus, and we had the big "panty raid" on St. Mary's(cause Meredith was too far to walk"!!) By then, I'd moved to Alexander because we were bunked 3 high in Riddick...

Different era, guys...Seems like stories from "American Pie or the like now"!
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archdalepack

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#9

02-25-2013, 11:26 AM

When I got the C parking pass used this tunnel. Was a good feeling to come out of field house into the partial stadium. Guess I am just a sucker for old stuff. However I am turning over a new leaf. I now want to tear down the bell tower and build a starbucks, chick-fil-a, mcdonalds mega resturant. Progress!
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compsciwolf

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#10

02-27-2013, 10:21 AM

Goodnight Raleigh! has a great post on the field house and it's history that just went up:

http://goodnightraleigh.com/2013/02/...m-field-house/

It also has the real reason it's coming down - it's in the railroad right of way and plans are to have new tacks for a light rail go through there in 10 years. The University doesn't see the point in fixing up the field house to make it usable if they are just going to have to tear it down in 10 years anyway.
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highstick

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#11

02-27-2013, 08:08 PM

Archdale, that was a pretty cool visual that brought back a lot of memories. If I recall correctly, I saw Brian Piccolo when Wake played State in Riddick. Going through that tunnel back to the dorm in Riddick did have a feel different that the one between Alexander towards Harrelson.

Good link there, Compsci! I posted as a former resident of Riddick!

Last edited by highstick; 02-27-2013, 08:17 PM.
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Pack78

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#12

02-28-2013, 07:56 AM

As a ChemE grad, I took classes in 'Riddick Engineering Laboratries' (now Riddick Hall) by the old stadium site....never really knew the namesake's history (beyond the fact that he was an Engineering Dean) until now.
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