{"id":4661,"date":"2024-02-01T11:12:46","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T16:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.alumni.ncsu.edu\/?p=4661"},"modified":"2024-02-01T15:38:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T20:38:41","slug":"you-were-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/2024\/you-were-here\/","title":{"rendered":"You Were Here."},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

The plans were announced in a Technician<\/em> article in February 1965, headlined, \u201cCampus Landscaping Soon to be Undertaken.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents who are sick of the muddy cowpaths between Erdahl-Cloyd Union and Harrelson \u2014 Rejoice!\u201d The story went on to say that the plan to landscape the area included \u201cextensive paving\u201d so that students could get to class easily without destroying grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExtensive paving\u201d may have been an understatement. This would be more than a system of sidewalks\u2009\u2014\u2009and in the end a swath of land was paved over with red and white brick in a distinctive pattern to create what later came to be known as the Brickyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Brickyard is 50 years old, and today it\u2019s almost as iconic a symbol of NC State as the Bell Tower. In fact, that\u2019s what its designer, Richard C. Bell \u201950, had in mind. \u201cCarolina has its well, its great symbol,\u2019\u2019 he told Chancellor John Caldwell after he was hired for the project. \u201cOurs will be a symbol of urban design.\u2019\u2019 In an oral history archived at D.H. Hill Library, Bell remembers Caldwell\u2019s response: \u201cThat\u2019s a good idea. Go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOurs will be a symbol of urban design.\u201d
\u2013 Richard C. Bell \u201950<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Brickyard came of age in turbulent times. Only a few weeks after the dedication in March 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and the Brickyard was the site of its first protest gathering. Many more were to follow, as students rallied against the Vietnam War and shootings at Kent State. It also became the site of celebration, most notably during the Wolfpack basketball team\u2019s run to the national championship in 1983. And it was a place for sorrow. Immediately after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, students, faculty and staff came together on the Brickyard, locking arms and shedding tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By the Numbers<\/h2><\/a>
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500<\/strong> Approximate number of bricks students steal from the Brickyard each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

225,000<\/strong> Total number of red and white bricks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15,000<\/strong> Official capacity number of people who can fit in the Brickyard<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Brickyard is one of nine \u201challowed places\u201d on campus\u2009\u2014 a list that also includes Reynolds Coliseum, Holladay Hall and the Free Expression Tunnel. The designation is given only to places or buildings that have \u201caccrued special meaning\u201d over time. (In October 2023, the Oval on Centennial Campus was designated as NC State’s 10th “hallowed place.”) Read on for some little-known facts about the bricks that ended up doing a lot more than just keeping the mud off our shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n