Compass renovated, historic trash cans replaced
If you’ve ever slipped on the compass at campus center, you may be glad to hear renovation of the roughly 15-year-old structure was finished Aug. 1. Unveiled in the new design is an updated look — without slippery, rusted iron — finally fitted with accurate cardinal directions.
The compass first came to campus around 2009 thanks to the $4 million stimulus dollars the college received as part of the Go Oregon project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which UCC used to “renovate and refurbish a total of 11 shovel-ready projects from our Deferred Maintenance List.”
Slippery when wet
“(During) my very first term here, it was raining on the first day,” says Mea Olsen, a transfer student graduating after summer term. “I was trying to hustle-and-bustle — my shoe hit (the compass), and I fell right on my butt.”
“Luckily, my backpack caught me, but my Macbook?” Olsen shakes her head.
Other students tell similar stories: Lindsay Allen, fellow transfer student and Olsen’s friend, fell at the compass just a week after Olsen.
“I was late to get to math class,” Allen says. “I supermanned it. My leg went out before me, and I went, like, bam!”
Directions out of whack, feature lacking water
In the student center, long-time employee and administrative assistant Ronda Stearns comments on the older design’s declination: “If you ever stood there, the orientation of the compass was way off.”
Stearns also sheds light on a lesser-known water feature the compass once had, seen in a decade-old Mainstream video.
“One of the pumps broke, (but it used to) spit — pop — and shoot jets of water,” Stearns says.
The recent renovation did not fix the water feature, though water spouts still appear present.
New trash cans replace original 60-year-old models
Along with the compass’ renovation, the facilities department has slowly begun phasing out the campus’ historic trash cans with newer, more accessible models that administrative assistant Melanie Roesberry hopes will better disappear into the landscaping.
“All of them will be replaced, as far as I’m aware,” Roesberry says. “Some of the rock walls (on the older models) were damaged; graffiti — even if it was just a (penciled-in) smiley face — wasn’t able to be removed.”
The older trash cans have been a constant fixture on campus since its initial construction in the late 1960s, presumably made of the same Snowbird rock which comprises the original stonework across campus from “a quarry about 22 miles up Little River.”
Roesberry says she isn’t sure what is being done with the rock. “Some of it might be tossed, some of it might be salvaged,” she says.
But, as security guard Colin Murphy says, “The old (trash cans) were pretty gross.”Renovations to historic campus fixtures come just a few months before the college’s 60th anniversary celebration Sept. 21, where live entertainment, food trucks, a “history walk” and alumni sports games will be held from 12 to 7:30 p.m.
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