Bowers Stadium gets a face lift

GoBearkats reports the original seats at Bowers Stadium are being replaced:

Bowers Stadium has undergone a facelift with the removal of the original orange chair back seats installed when the facility first opened for the 1986 Bearkat football season.  A total of 1,040 seats from the west side center sections were disassembled and removed the week of June 11-15.  New wider, more comfortable orange chair back seats will replace the old ones. Installation of the new chair backs is slated for early August in time for Sam Houston's Sept. 8 season opening football game with Incarnate Word.

Building a Mystery: LSC Bookstore

We received an email this week from someone seeking information about the Lowman Student Center (LSC) bookstore, specifically ownership:

I am trying to find information about the bookstore companies that ran the LSC bookstore on campus from 1991 to 1998; I was employed there during part of that time. My memory is foggy, so I have been turning to other resources but so far nobody has record or recollection of the owners/management prior to the current store, which is run by Barnes and Noble.

By our estimation Barnes and Noble has operated the University Bookstore since c.2004. A temporary B&N store stood on the site of the current Chemistry and Forensic Sciences Building c.2003, possibly during and after the interior remodeling of the LSC last decade. Anyway:

I know that Follett was running the bookstore during part of my time there, but I cannot recall if they were the earlier company, or the one that took it over. Follett has no record, having purged all records. I am also pretty sure that the university itself ran the bookstore at one point, and staff was under SHSU payroll. It was not when I worked there, though. Still I know there was a change, because I worked for two companies during my employment and I helped with a changeover, and we had to inventory everything. There was then a clearance of most non-book items, as the new managing company did not want to take on too much inventory. I think the books went back to an outside distribution point. Then the store was emptied of all fixtures, etc. A new company came in and built their layout from scratch.

And there’s where things stand today.

If anyone has any memories of the LSC bookstore – be it any owner, be it any time period, or even be it about that thick, red paperback English Composition I book with a pseudo-engraving of Austin Hall on its cover that, for Fall 1994, was a required purchase but (ahem) was bought back at the end of the semester for mere peanuts because the English Department wasn’t going to use it any longer – and wants to help out a fellow Bearkat, drop us a line. She’d be glad to hear from you.

And I’d personally like to see the cover of that English comp book again, too.

Gibbs-Powell House at 150

This September the Gibbs-Powell House in Huntsville will celebrate its sesquicentennial, as the Item reports:

The Walker County Historical Commission serves in maintaining the upkeep of the establishment which is a Texas Archaeological Landmark and Historical Landmark. The house, which now functions as a museum, was originally built in 1862 by businessman Thomas Gibbs in the Greek revival style. Gibbs modeled the house after his brother’s across the street which was nearly identical. The building still features much of the original furniture and qualities that it did in the 1860s. The glass window panes and square pillars seen on the exterior of the structure are essential to that of the Greek revival style.  Although it has gone through many changes, the Walker County Historical Commission has left it unchanged in order to preserve some of the town’s most important history.

In its 150 years, the house has served as a home for the Gibbs-Powell families, board for females attending Sam Houston Normal Institute in the nineteenth century, and a museum for modern Huntsville to take a look at the history of its town.

For those keeping track, the house is about a decade younger than Austin Hall (1851-2) and fifteen years younger than the oldest building on the SHSU campus, Sam Houston's Woodlawn Home (1847).

Item: HSU Planning To Open Research Park

The May 5 edition of the Huntsville Item reports that SHSU appears to be planning its first research park in Huntsville (or anywhere!):

SHSU to Celebrate Opening of The Woodlands Center

The grand opening celebration of the new four-story, 144,164 square-foot The Woodlands Center will be May 30, from 2 to 4 p.m. The May 3 edition of the Houstonian discusses the new building:

The public is invited to attend the ribbon ceremony and the dedication of the Lois W. Kolkhorst Atrium presented by SHSU President Dana Gibson.

The Woodlands Center was designed to offer more space for programs provided at The University Center with new classrooms, labs, enrollment counseling, advising, administrative services and a large parking garage.

According to SHSU Heritage Magazine, the Lone Star College System provided SHSU with seven acres of land near The University Center in return for the use of 50 percent of the classrooms and free parking from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. until approximately 2022.

Building News: Parking Expansion

Today’s Houstonian had two articles (count 'em - one, two) discussing parking issues but that also touched on the demolition of two notable dormitories:

King Hall will be demolished and made into a parking lot. Although original planning called for housing in this location, but due to Old Main Market, plans have changed, according to [Vice President of Finance Al] Hooten.

“The location is maxing the capabilities of Old Main Market to effectively handle student traffic and additional parking is greatly needed in this area,” Hooten said.

Since a new dorm will not be put in King Hall’s place, SHSU is planning to build new housing and an additional food service facility on the southern edge of campus, according to Hooten.

“The University is acquiring property at this time between Avenues J and I and the plan is to locate near existing University parking lots,” Hooten said.

Smith-Kirkley will be demolished this summer, and dependent on the student referendum, this space will be used for the expansion of the LSC, according to Hooten.

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[Assistant Director of Parking and Transportation David] Kapalko plans on fixing what he believes is the proximity problem by building more parking garages. Lack of funding is keeping this idea at bay for now.

“The University has a series of hurdles to face before we can [build the new garages],” he said. “Right now there are no tuition dollars or state appropriated funds available to do that.”

Kapalko warns new parking garages come at a cost.

“As more garages are built, parking fees will have to increase,” Kapalko said. “It would take $140-150/per month, per space, for a garage to generate sufficient revenue to pay for itself .That means surface lot permit fees will have to increase to subsidize new garages.”

However, he isn’t in a rush to start construction on these garages.

“It is safe to say no garages will begin construction in the next year,” Kapalko said.

Also:

Indoor air quality inspections not fully performed in SHSU buildings, documented

Inaugural Raven’s Call Ceremony

The Huntsville Item reports on the inaugural Raven’s Call Ceremony, held Friday, April 20:

The ceremony, which was created and organized by the Orange Keys Student Ambassadors, was held in front of the Bell Tower on campus and served as a memorial to honor SHSU faculty, students and staff who passed away in the past two years. Family, friends and current and former faculty, staff and students gathered to take part in a the new tradition which will take place annually.

A frosted glass memorial, which will light up orange at night and sits in a flower bed in front of the Bell Tower, was also unveiled at the event.

More
Apr. 18: SHSU memorial event Friday

Collaboration to improve Student Health Center

The Houstonian reports on the student focus groups that met recently to discuss the Student Health Center:

Several students representing different clubs and organizations on campus were asked to attend. This group included representatives from the nursing program, Program Council, Bearkat Learning Community and Student Activities.

The overall consensus of the building was that it was nice, but nothing defined the building as the SHC. Some students believed it was vacant for the longest time

“The front of the building is not even facing the traffic of campus,” Tobias Steen, junior psychology major, said.

The combining of the Counseling Center and SHC was also discussed. About two thirds of the students knew there was a counseling center and about half knew where it was.

According to [Associate Vice President for Student Services Ken] Jenkins, [architectural programmer Terry] Phillips will take the students’ opinions and along with Tim McGreggor, another architectural programmer, they will draw up possible plans for the SHC. The plans will be shown to the students and a student referendum will be put on the ballot around homecoming for students to vote on whether or not they approve the expansion.

This same process will occur for the Lowman Student Center expansions which is planned to start discussion in May.

Student Government Association Supports Expansions

The April 12 edition of the Houstonian reports the Student Government Association voted on legislation to support expansion of student service buildings. Both Senate Resolution S12-08, "A Resolution in Support of The Health Center and Counseling Center Expansion" and Senate Resolution S12-09,"The Lowman Student Center Expansion" passed.

Bearkat Power

Today@Sam reports on the latest form of Bearkat power:

Entergy Texas, Inc., and SHSU plugged into the future Wednesday, April 11 with the unveiling of a newly installed electric vehicle charging station in the university’s Sam South parking lot. It is the first electric charging station Entergy has installed in Huntsville. Two other stations are already installed, one each at Texas A&M University in College Station and the Lamar Institute of Technology in Beaumont. A fourth will be installed at Lamar University in the near future.

In Huntsville, SHSU will allow students, faculty and staff to use the charger at no cost. Entergy Texas will collect usage data for research about the chargers’ impact on consumers and the electric grid.