Campus Master Plan Open House

Sam Houston State University is embarking on a monumental journey that will establish the institution's physical signature for years to come. A comprehensive Master Plan is being initiated to study the campus' physical make up and to set future recommendations for guiding development on the campus. JJR of Ann Arbor, Michigan, campus planning specialists, in collaboration with local architects and engineers, will guide the planning effort.

President Gartner and his Cabinet are asking for the University community to provide input that will help identify critical issues that the planning consultant should consider. The comprehensive planning process will occur over the next 9 months and will address the campus' future physical organization, growth capacity, and image.

The first opportunity for students, faculty and staff to engage in the planning process will be on Wednesday, November 28 in the form of an open house. There will be two separate sessions held to capture the greatest participation. One session will be held over lunch from 11:00am to 1:00pm at the Lowman Student Center and the other will be in the evening from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Belvin-Buchanan Dining Hall.

During the informal event, participants will be asked to identify issues regarding parking, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, buildings and facilities, open space, and the surrounding community. The input received will aid the consultant team in identifying issues important to the University community.

Something about Henry Crawford

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the death of Henry Crawford, the longtime coach and administrator at Sam Houston State. Crawford attended Austin College in Sherman and made his way to Huntsville where he became part of the SHSTC Athletics Department, eventually rising to the position of football coach. Along the way he acquired the nickname “Molly,” as evidenced in the scholarships and residence hall that honor him, and pretty much every other time we see his name in print (as H.O. "Molly" Crawford).

The question begs: why Molly? Was it a family name? Was it early-19th century football slang (“he sure mollied that ball....”)? Was it an off-the-cuff epithet from a peer that stuck? Was it something mundane that really doesn’t matter all these years later?

We've asked around about it ourselves but the people we've questioned either 1) don't know themselves or 2) don't...uh... share our level of enthusiasm in the subject (yeah, that's it...).

Crawford is buried in Huntsville’s Oakwood Cemetery.

Today@Sam: Bearkat Plaza Opens

Today@Sam: Students took advantage of the mild fall weather Thursday afternoon by enjoying opening day of the new central campus plaza [more scenes] (photo credit: shsu).

Today@Sam: Bearkat Plaza Opening Soon

Today@Sam: Phase I of the central campus plaza is nearly complete and should be open for foot traffic about November 8. Some of its plants include red oak, willow oak, live oak, red maple, crape myrtle, Indian hawthorne, wax myrtle, camelia, Louisiana iris, butterfly iris, jasmine, and St. Augustine grass. Phase II of the project will be removal of the telephone building and additional landscaping, and is expected to start in August 2008 when the communication equipment will be transferred to the Humanities and Social Sciences Building (photo credit: shsu).

Construction Updates

Thursday's Houstonian [November 1, 2007] notes the impending completion of the expanded Mall area, on the former Frels-Wilson buildings.

Also, the SHSU Physical Plant page has been updated (though you wouldn't get that from the top of the page where it still says "April 2007") to include current (or mildly recent) photographs of construction:

• Academic Building V ("Substantial Completion Date: September 2008")
• Mall area ("Substantial Completion Date: October 2007")
• Design of the forthcoming Performing Arts Center ("Substantial Completion Date: December 2009")
• Plans for the new Agriculture Complex at Gibbs ranch
• North dining facility ("Substantial Completion Date: December 2008")

Finally, one can view a few pictures of the Colony Apartments in an early stage of demolition. Also, the contents of the Telephone Services building (that unsightly holdover from the Frels-Wilson demolition) appear to be on the move to Academic Building One...? (I thought it was AB5?)