Part of WIU being Imploded

[Valley Dweller]

From the Mid Sixties to the Mid Seventies WIU went "High Rise Crazy". WIU has 8 dorms between 13 and 19 stories in height....no joke. Thing is young folks ain't really diggin living in them so much anymore. WIU is the HIGH RISE capital of the MVFC. Funny WIU has the smallest metro population of all members. I thought initially Macomb was quite big when I came in from the North side and saw a Skyline. WIU had its highest enrollemnt in the mid 70's peaking at around 15k, it is now around 11.5k (it is over 13k including the Satelite campus 90 minutes north).

Ok now the fun stuff. WIU is imploding a 14 story 44 year old building. Nice, good thinking, build something to last 44 years.

One of the Big ones are comming down soon:
http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=9896

 

[Bally #50]

Not to be outdone, many of us are keenly aware that it is the wish of the ISU trustees to implode Statesman Towers. Of course, that rumor has been tossed around for a 5+ years. They'd like to do the same to Sycamore Towers down the road but that one seems less likely. Ironically, the fact is, in 1967, it was the opportunity to live in Rhoads Hall as a freshman that truly "enticed" me to come to Indiana State because many of the colleges I had been accepted in, the living quarters were very similar to Parsons or Reeve Hall (old and outdated).

Surely, that is not a GOOD reason to select a school, but as fricking dumb as I was in those days, it made sense to me. The rest is history. I couldn't have made a smarter move, whatsoever.

 

[BankShot]

I know of a couple Macomb motel rooms that were "imploded" in '72...the "Barn" has never been the same.

BTW...many of the Parson's traditions were passed to Jones Hall after it was closed in '69. I recall the Homecoming 2-week newspaper stuffing of the 7-story "Igor" outside the north side Jones dormitory. Many of these "traditions" have blown away in the wind over time, but were surely UNIFYING in "spirit" during their era.

 

[treeman]

i thought that the statesmen towers were going to be demolished sometime this summer??? are they not doing it now???

 

[Bally #50]

Treeman, I had heard that as well but then again, I have heard it for years. It will be a VERY expensive to bring down, as it is a poured concrete superstructure. That is also the reason it would have been almost impossible to change the room configuration or add the necessary air conditioning.

 

[bent20]

In the next 30-40 years, I expect the Macomb campus to eventually shrink and for the new WIU Quad-City campus to become much, much larger. Metro area of 300,000 vs whatever Macomb is.

 

[Valley Dweller]

In the next 30-40 years, I expect the Macomb campus to eventually shrink and for the new WIU Quad-City campus to become much, much larger. Metro area of 300,000 vs whatever Macomb is.

Dumb statment. Enrolment was up in the late sixties through mid seventies because of babyboomers.

WIU Macomb campus is the same now as what it was 15 years ago when I was there. Quad Cities campus is all comuter, and services no undergrad.

I have made jokes that WIU would be better served to leave Macomb for the Quad. Western's neighbors to the left closed down their campus and moved North.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage_College

 

[4Q_iu]

Treeman, I had heard that as well but then again, I have heard it for years. It will be a VERY expensive to bring down, as it is a poured concrete superstructure. That is also the reason it would have been almost impossible to change the room configuration or add the necessary air conditioning.

This issue will make it harder to raze Statesman Towers than the concrete and steel. TNT and wrecking ball will work but relocating these peregrine falcons will be much, MUCH more difficult.

http://www.indstate.edu/news/news.php?newsid=3177

 

[BankShot]

Send down here to Melbourne Beach...plenty of sea turtle egg mounds this time of year to eat. Every morning I see a couple new tracks leading from the ocean to the dunes - they're close to digging on top of each other. In a month, there will be hords of those lil' turtles heading to the ocean at night. Big fines for disturbing the nests of shining bright lights on 'em. Early A.M. "census takers" are charting the mounds, riding along the seashore on ATV's w/ red lights. Only 2% live to adulthood. Almost as bad as Detroit!

 

[bent20]

Dumb statment. Enrolment was up in the late sixties through mid seventies because of babyboomers.

WIU Macomb campus is the same now as what it was 15 years ago when I was there. Quad Cities campus is all comuter, and services no undergrad.

I have made jokes that WIU would be better served to leave Macomb for the Quad. Western's neighbors to the left closed down their campus and moved North.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage_College

I live in the Quad-Cities and have personally reported on the growth of the Quad-Cities campus. Dumb statement? Go ahead and tell yourself that. It's a community of 300,000 without a public four-year university with a new passenger rail line coming directly into Moline from Chicago. Macomb is out in the middle of no where! QC has I-80 and I-74 coming through town.

 

[Valley Dweller]

I live in the Quad-Cities and have personally reported on the growth of the Quad-Cities campus. Dumb statement? Go ahead and tell yourself that. It's a community of 300,000 without a public four-year university with a new passenger rail line coming directly into Moline from Chicago. Macomb is out in the middle of no where! QC has I-80 and I-74 coming through town.

I'm familiar with the Quad Cities. The area does have quite a lot to offer. I could see WIU-QC going the route of University of Illinois Springfield. Back when UIS was Sangomon State University it was just an upper level commuter school. Now it is a traditional university.

 

[bent20]

I agree with that. I'm not saying the Macomb campus will ever go away just that someday the QC campus could be bigger.

Much like Ball State, which began as a satellite of Indiana State.