A (belated) Good-bye to Garner

We’re going to turn our attention, albeit briefly, to that silly-sounding city to the north – the one that Jim “Goat Boy” Breuer reconstituted as “nah-kawda-caucus” when he visited campus on September 19, 1998 (or so says my ticket stub).

SFASU announced last year that the Garner Apartment complex would be demolished at the end of the 2009. Built in 1969 and named after William Garner, the first head of SFA's History and Political Science department, the residence was 14-stories and was comprised of 132 rooms for up-and-coming Lumberjacks. For one less-than-memorable school year I lived in a hole on the 13th floor of this architectural wonder – touted as the tallest structure in Nacogdoches – and can attest to taking the stairs from the ground floor to the near-top on more than one occasion.

When the four ton wrecking ball met up with the towering brick structure on February 6 there was a slight problem: Garner didn’t want to go:

The ball slowly swung back, then swung forward - and then lightly tapped the roof. A groan of disappointment could be heard echoing through the crowd. The crane swung out again and brought the wrecking ball against the side again, this time a little harder.

And then there was the matter of the wrecking ball falling 14-stories:

You can read more about recollections about Garner as well as the demolition festivities at the ironic Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches blog.