Summer 2013 preparations for the Academy Street Residence and Dining Hall, scheduled to open in August 2015...this is where the tennis courts were.If you attended UD anytime over the past 25 years, the scene above is a familiar site. The pace and scale of campus construction projects has been astounding…to the point where if you haven’t been back to UD in a while, certain parts of campus are downright unrecognizable.
Below is an attempt(!) at a UD Campus Construction Timeline, broken down year-by-year, since 1986. I will say it’s pretty thorough, but I’ve undoubtedly missed some stuff, and there of course may be some dates where I’m off by a year or two. Have additions or corrections? Contribute! Okay, put your hard hat on, here we go…
• Morris Library renovation and expansion
• The Beach is resodded
• Had a hard time diggin’ anything up, so lemme know!
• Scrounge renovated
• The Abbey becomes a pseudo-dining hall
• Russell Dining Hall renovations
• The Center Court opens in the back of The Scrounge
• Ray Street opens
• Pencader Dining Hall and Upper Deck renovated
• Rodney Dining Hall renovated
• Additional Russell Dining Hall renovations
• The Blue Hen Sports Lounge opens in Perkins Student Center
• Chambers House at 196 South College Avenue renovated into the UD Visitors Center
• Construction of Lammot du Pont Laboratory begins
• Bob Carpenter Center opens
• Student Services building opens
• Dorms begin to get wired for cable television
• Brickwork pathways begin to take over campus
• Harrington Dining Hall closes, and is converted into the Harrington Commons
• Lammot du Pont Laboratory opens
• Pine Tree removed from the center of the Library Octagon
• Mitchell Hall renovated
• YoUDee debuts! (Okay, it’s not really a construction project, but hey, they constructed the costume…right?)
• The Abbey closes, and back half is demolished to make way for Trabant University Center
• Taylor Hall renovated
• Colburn Lab renovated
• Elliott Hall renovated
• An abstract piece of art named “Sky High" is installed in the Quad courtyard
• Newark Hall renamed Pearson Hall
• Recitation Hall renovated
• Rodney Dining Hall renovation
• Parking Garage across from the Deer Park opens
• College of Agricultural Sciences Biotechnology Center opens
• Top three floors of Christiana Tower converted to University Guest Apartments(!) Yeah, that only last a few years.
• Trabant University Center opens
• Construction begins on MBNA America Hall
• Construction begins on Gore Hall, as well as the redesigned Smith Overpass
• Brown Laboratory renovated
• Diamond Walkway installed in the path to Old College
• Laird Campus Sorority Complex opens for Chi Omega, Phi Sigma Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Kappa Delta
• UD’s sports complex renamed the David M. Nelson Athletic Complex
• The Center Court in the back of The Scrounge closes
• MBNA America Hall opens (which would later be renamed Lerner Hall)
• Munroe Hall opens
• Rodney Underground closes, and becomes the Rodney Fitness Center
• Scrounge renovated
• Gore Hall opens
• Memorial Hall renovations begin
• Area in front of Laurel Hall relandscaped
• The Beach is resodded
• Exelon Trading Center in Purnell Hall opens
• The interlocking “UD” red bushes are installed in front of Smith Hall, facing South College Avenue
• Memorial Hall renovations are completed
• The Colonnade is installed at the Quad, with the Quad Fountain installed soon thereafter
• Mentor's Circle installed
• Carpenter Sports Building renovated
• Custom-built pipe organ installed in Bayard Sharp Hall
• Academy Street Parking Garage adjacent to Perkins opens
• Playing field in Delaware Stadium renamed Tubby Raymond Field
• DuPont Hall renovation and expansion completed
• Russell Dining Hall renovated
• Studio Arts Building opens
• UD pushes for "The Mall" to be referred to as "The Green"
• Library Octagon removed, and replaced with straight walkways
• Pencader Dining Hall renovated
• Courtyard by Marriot Newark opens
• New trees planted along the Diamond Walkway that leads to Old College, replacing the trees uprooted by Hurricane Isabel in 2003
• Magnolia Circle Fountain installed
• Pencader A - H and Commons I and II demolished
• George Read Hall opens
• Jastak-Burgess Hall opens, merging together the former Sig Ep and Sig Nu houses at Old College
• Pencader J - M and Commons III demolished
• Thomas McKean Hall and James Smith Halls open
• Center for the Arts opens, soon thereafter dedicated as the Louise and David Roselle Center for the Arts
• McKinly Lab's "roof" renovated
• Brown Laboratory renovated
• Student Multimedia Design Center opens in lower level of Morris Library
• After decades of trying to maintain natural grass on The Beach, it's turfed over!
• Admissions Visitors Center and Enrollment Services Building opens
• Independence Hall opens
• Russell Complex renovated
• Gilbert Complex demolished
• Harrington Complex renovated
• Kirkbride Hall renovated
• The Blue & Gold Club closes
• UD signs purchase agreement for the 272-acre site formerly occupied by the Chrysler Assembly Plant, to become the STAR Campus
• Old College Art Gallery renovated
• Russell Dining Hall renovated, with the front redesigned
• New Main Street Barnes & Noble UD Bookstore opens
• “Wings of Thought" statue added to Mentor's Circle
• Redding and (New) Gilbert Hall open
• ISE Lab opens
• Allison Hall renovated
• Perkins Student Center Lounge opens, in the former space of the bookstore
• Carpenter Sports Building renovation and expansion completed
• Building that housed the Blue and Gold Club is renamed the Wright House
• Dickinson, Rodney, and Rodney Dining Hall close; UD eliminates all of West Campus, to sell off the land.
• Kent Dining Hall begins to phase out, and eventually close for good.
• Daugherty Hall renovated, transforming the interior into a more traditional reading room aesthetic, more in-line with the history of the building.
• Purnell Hall addition and expansion.
• Harrington complex reopens, after significant renovations.
• Academy Residence and Dining Hall opens, officially named Caesar Rodney Hall and Caesar Rodney Dining Hall. Yes, correct, this is the NEW Rodney complex and NEW Rodney Dining Hall!
• Russell Dining Hall to temporarily close to undergo renovations; Kent will reopen temporarily to cover for it.
• Russell Dining Hall to reopen after renovations, and then Kent Dining Hall scheduled to permanently close. It’s speculated the Kent space will be ultimately used as a lounge, study area, or event space.
• South Academy Street Residence Hall scheduled to open. (Speculated to be named “John Dickinson.”)
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