NC State ‘icon’ to be destroyed

Campus News29

Is this progress? or destruction of another NC State ‘tradition’?

Link to the story and some personal experiences of some of our community members.

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29 Responses to NC State ‘icon’ to be destroyed

  1. TopTenPack 01/11/2011 at 1:14 AM #

    Good riddance! The building was poorly designed. The classrooms are small and not functional and there are few restrooms. I believe the only woman’s bathroom is on the top floor. Now that the SAS building is open, NC State can be done with this eyesore.

  2. Paramarine 01/11/2011 at 1:20 AM #

    If the tradition we lose is the one where you get perved on when you go to take a leak, I think I’ll be ok.

  3. Astral Rain 01/11/2011 at 2:03 AM #

    I had most of my classes there myself. Good riddance.

  4. ryno84 01/11/2011 at 7:43 AM #

    That building should have been gone long ago, like Rain said ” Good Riddance”.

  5. bradleyb123 01/11/2011 at 8:08 AM #

    I heard a couple of rumors about that building… one was that it was originally supposed to be 10+ stories tall, but they figured out it would start sinking under the weight, so they cut it short. That doesn’t seem feasible to me now, though, looking back on it.

    The other was the rumor that Harrelson Hall was a KNOWN meeting place for homosexuals. I mean, it was on some kind of perverted list of NATIONAL known meeting places for gays.

    Like they said on Seinfeld, “not that there’s anything wrong with that”, but not really my cup of tea!

    Has anyone else ever heard either of these rumors?

    My take on the demolition is GOOD RIDDANCE!

    Plus, there will be that much more space in the brickyard to celebrate national championships. 🙂

  6. Texpack 01/11/2011 at 8:47 AM #

    A fair amount of the furniture that was burned on the brickyard during the National Championship celebration in ’83 came out of Harrelson Hall.

  7. ncsuinpa 01/11/2011 at 9:03 AM #

    @Texpack. I remember that night.

  8. tractor57 01/11/2011 at 9:37 AM #

    I had a few classes in Harrelson in the day.
    Very uncomfortable, the curved chalkboards had been replaced with ones that did not curve away from you. I won’t miss it if they do finally raze.

  9. thebigwood 01/11/2011 at 9:38 AM #

    @bradley, I heard both of those rumors too.

  10. backnine 01/11/2011 at 10:01 AM #

    I might consider coming out to tailgate the day they detonate this unholy piece of crap. I have always hated this building. Its not functional AND its terribly ugly. It has no redeeming qualities at all. State has a long history of sacrificing asthetics at the alter of functionality. Something that I hope is changing. But this poor building had neither attribute from day one. How its lasted for fifty years is beyond me.

  11. Pano Fasoulas 01/11/2011 at 10:24 AM #

    That building definitley sucked and it’s time for it to go. But, I had a ton of classes in it and it will be weird to go back to campus and not see it there.

  12. LRM 01/11/2011 at 10:39 AM #

    I had Diff Eq in Harrelson and wished its destruction many times during that semester.

  13. otisthetowndrunk 01/11/2011 at 10:58 AM #

    The rooms that had the long rows with the chairs stationary, those chairs hurt my back. There was no way to sleep in class without straining your lower back. I totally blame that building on my poor performance in Calculus.

  14. wolfbuff 01/11/2011 at 11:45 AM #

    Horrible building. It’s as if it was some sort of failed architecture experiment to see if they could build a round building. It has no functional value except as a skateboard ramp and, apparently, as a gay meeting place. For the classes I had there, I had to make sure to sit in the middle of the room, otherwise, I couldn’t see the board on the opposite end, as it wrapped around out of sight. I’ll swing the first sledgehammer.

  15. erichack 01/11/2011 at 11:48 AM #

    I remember the building for all of the math classes that I attended in that building…not fun, but when i go back to campus it is one building that brings home the difficult but succesful journey that my academic life took…i will miss it for personal reasons, but clearly that is one ugly a** building…that space can be better used for sure…i hope they replce it with something that is worthy of that space…

  16. backnine 01/11/2011 at 12:08 PM #

    It was suggested that the footprint be restored as a green space, perhaps with a statue or fountain to honor former Chancellor Harrelson, for whom the building was named. I like this idea. We don’t often get a chance to restore a piece of green space right in the heart of campus. I think we should take advantage of it. It would add a lot to the brickyard and the heartbeat of campus.

  17. graywolf 01/11/2011 at 12:24 PM #

    Icon yes, but a horrible building. Round and round and round to find a class. First wildlife management class with Barkalow in that building. What a character and what a building.

  18. highstick 01/11/2011 at 12:33 PM #

    I’ve got mixed emotions because of some very good and some very bad memories in Harrelson. I hated the long circular hike up the inside and wasn’t too fond of the staircases either, but by the time I was a junior I had it figured out. I’d guess 80-90 percent of my classes were in Harrelson during my junior and senior year. I tried to schedule all of my classes to begin by 9 and end by 2 o’clock. I was living off campus then so I’d base myself out of the old Student Union or the Library and zip over to Harrelson for classes.

    Granted the architecture sucked, but it was convenient. I actually think the stairs in Winston were worse, but maybe they changed after they renovated it…If there’s a building I absolutely detested, it was Withers and it’s a damned wonder that I didn’t blow that place up accidentally during Chem labs.

  19. Sakaspack 01/11/2011 at 3:36 PM #

    Mixed emotions here as well, never had a problem with the building. There were more co-eds in the bldg. and it was AIR CONDITIONED. Nicely located to the library and union in the ’60’s early ’70’s; the brickyard was a great place to hang out then.

  20. ruffles31 01/11/2011 at 3:57 PM #

    I had lots of classes there. If I remember correctly, one time I believe that on one of the outside staircases Austin Herbert tripped and twisted his ankle and wasn’t able to punt against an ACC team…maybe UNC.

    The Brickyard will sure look different without it.

  21. gcpack 01/11/2011 at 4:38 PM #

    Well before they tear Harrelson down they will replace the bookstore on the other side of the tracks where the street deadends just past Reynolds. During the bookstore demolition the downstairs portion of Harrelson will be enclosed and used as a temporary bookstore until the new one is finished. I just got that info as a notification for my son who is currently a junior.

    Of course tearing down buildings is pretty commonplace on big campuses and NCSU is no exception. I received the 100th anniversary book on State basketball and another smaller general State university history book as gifts and was very surprised on how many substantial buildings that were standing in the early 20th century have been razed. I thought I knew the lay of the land when it came to the old buildings but those books showed buildings I never knew existed. So Harrelson’s demise is just more growth at a major university.

    I guess the building wasn’t the most efficient but I have good memories of taking some interesting history courses there.

  22. john of sparta 01/11/2011 at 9:10 PM #

    there’s so much more.
    the Board should buy
    12 construction cranes
    for permanent duty.

  23. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 01/11/2011 at 9:33 PM #

    I will miss Harrelson, not because of the design but because it is an icon. Too bad it can’t fly away and land over on centennial and be turned into a much needed NC State museum.

    NC State has historic photos, films, and records all over campus and there seems to be little effort to preserve the history. I’m sure the Libraries are working to archive records and seems like I’ve seen something about Athletics working on saving documents stuffed away in a closet in Reynolds. Please build a museum or put one in the visitor’s center or alumni building.

    I hope that if State is rebuilding the bookstore they plan to do something with the dead end road. I’m sure it could be connected to the service lot that runs along the back of the store and next to the student center. This would allow people to exit the area across from the gym.

  24. Master 01/12/2011 at 8:39 AM #

    As a 1st semester freshman, I had 3 classes in Harrelson. Talk about confusing! I could not remember if it was a yellow stair class, a blue class or a pink class – what side do I go to for the correct stairs? What floor do I get off on? Inside ring of classrooms or outside? Should I take the ramp instead? Very confusing until I got used to it.

  25. StateFans 01/12/2011 at 11:07 AM #

    My very first class of my college career was in Harrelson. First person I met in class was the next door neighbor of a girl who was a cheerleader for a rival HS that I had crushed on for the previous 3 years. She set us up, and we dated for the next 18 months. Worst relationship of my entire life.

    Good-bye, Harrelson!

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