THE SHORTCOMINGS of the new Observatory Hill Dining Hall have become common knowledge. The facility's architecture, layout and expense are frequently cited as the greatest failings of the O-Hill project. Another great failing that frequently goes overlooked, however, is the huge expanse of dirt that has been left in the place of the old O-Hill which is currently in the remarkably slow process of becoming something useful.
First-year students arriving in the fall had plenty to say about the new dining hall but rarely mentioned the barren field neighboring it; at the time, there were still large mounds of dirt scattered around the area and fences and wood barriers were still encircling the entire field. There were obvious indications that there was still work to do on the area, and the presence of several pieces of heavy equipment promised that such work was forthcoming.
Instead, for several months, the only thing that appeared to get done was that the mounds of dirt were pushed around several times. There was no discernable change in the status of the field, and students began to wonder whether they would live their entire first year behind an ugly construction site.
Later in the fall, the dirt was finally smoothed out and certain parts of the field and other patches of land around the dining hall were treated with grass seed. The area at the center of the site, however, remained bare and untouched. The areas that were treated were surrounded by plastic orange fencing to allow the grass to grow -- fencing that was not removed until well after the grass had come in.
Meanwhile, the crews began the construction of sidewalks across the field. After a curved section of sidewalk had been laid over a period of a week or more, it was torn up and replaced, apparently to accommodate a fiber optic cable. At the same time, another section of curved sidewalk was laid at the other end of the field on the O-Hill side, which still does not connect to anything in particular.
Gradually, most of the fencing and wooden barriers came down, and students began to walk across the stretch of sidewalk that is complete, a stretch that curves away from the dining hall and becomes inexplicably straight about halfway across. The field has remained largely in the same condition since that time: There is still no grass growing in a large section of the field, and the whole area still appears more or less in disarray.
Work on the field has come to a halt as the workers wait for the right time to plant trees and other landscape elements, project manager Elizabeth Bowling said in an interview. Although those in charge can't be faulted for not planting grass seed in December and January, if there wasn't any construction planned for the central section of the field from the beginning, that section could have been seeded along with the rest of the area that was.
That grass came in nicely, despite being planted in late fall, thanks to unusually warm weather. And there is no further work planned for the sidewalks at all, meaning that the ridiculous sight of inexplicable arcs of sidewalk will remain. Bowling said that there might someday be a complete oval of sidewalk in the area, but this was not provided for in the original project.
This project clearly could have used some extra attention and oversight. The University needs to realize that the presence of this eyesore right next to its brand new dining hall and directly in front of half of its dormitories is bound to give visitors negative impressions. The area is a highly trafficked one, being not only near a large student living area but also in close proximity to Scott Stadium, the Mecca for visitors on fall Saturdays.
One would also have hoped that regard for the students of the Alderman Road dorms would have provided an impetus for the University to see this project completed. Such a large area of grass would have been a welcome resource for new dorm students, who have never enjoyed a large open space on the level of the old dorms quad. Instead, it appears unlikely that the project will be finished before it is time for the class of 2009 to move out of their residence halls.
Progress on the renovation of the O-Hill dirt mound has been woefully slow since August. It's time for the University to lean on the contractors and do what needs to be done to put this project to rest. Construction of new labs and facilities is one thing, but building something out of mud is child's play.
Matt Waring's column appears Wednesday's in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at mwaring@cavalierdaily.com.
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