The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 03, 2006, Image 1
The University of South Carolina Friday, February 3, 2006 Vol. 99, No. 58 • Since 1908
Razing the
The Carolina Plaza stands
as the Carolina Inn hotel
in this undated archived
photograph.
JWI II. •
Carolina Plaza to come down Sunday,
make way for new public health school
Gina Uasselli
STAFF WRITER
he Carolina Plaza will
end more than three
decades of service to USC
and Columbia when it is
imploded at 8 a.m Sunday.
Nine blocks will be
blocked off to traffic and the
public, but a public viewing
area for the demolition will
be in the Department of
Transportation parking lot
on the corner of Greene and
Lincoln streets.
Roadblocks will create a
one-block safety perimeter
around the Plaza, forming
a square with one corner at
Lincoln and Senate streets
and the opposite corner at
Greene and Main streets.
No vehicles or people are
allowed inside, said USC
spokesman Russ McKinney.
David Griffin, vice
president of construction
company D.H. Griffin,
estimated the roadblocks
would be lifted as early as 15
minutes after the implosion.
“I would perceive all
streets being open two to
three hours after,” Griffin
said.
D.H. Griffin was hired to
dismantle the former visitor
center for USC. D.H.
Griffin hired Demolition
Dynamics to design the
implosion, McKinney said.
The two companies have
worked on over 100 projects
together.
The demolition will cost
just under a million dollars,
said Delisa Clark, project
manager.
In addition, it will cbst
about $250,000 to remove
the building’s asbestos.
Preparation for the
roadblocks begins Saturday
night by “bagging” all
area meters. Roads will
be blocked off at 7 a.m.
Sunday.
Cars parked in the
immediate vicinity of the
blast will be moved, said
Steven Pettigrew, operations
vice president of Demolition
Dynamics.
There will be a live
Webcast of the implosion
on the university’s Web
site. The camera will start
streaming at 7:45 a.m. and
end at 8:15 a.m.
The command post,
where the three buttons
will be pressed to initiate
the implosion, is situated
in Damon’s Grill on Senate
Street.
Officials from D.H.
Griffin and Demolition
Dynamics estimate the total
time from beginning the
blast through the building’s
final collapse of the building
to be about 15 seconds.
Workers will then “start
dust cleanup 5 minutes after
it’s on the ground,” Griffin
said.
As soon as they get an
“all clear,” they will tighten
the perimeter of the safety
zone.
McKinney said the
building was originally built
as a hotel between 1972 and
1973.
“The building has had a lot
of usage by the university,”
said Joe Rogers, director
of Facilities Management.
“The decision (to implode
it) wasn’t easily arrived at.”
It is the building’s
unconventional construction
that contributed to the final
decision, McKinney said.
The cost of bringing the
building up to code for
university purposes would
be more expensive than
what the building is worth,
Rogers said.
“We decided the best
thing to do was to take it
down,” Rogers said.
Following the demolition,
the area will be used as a
lay down area for the new
university construction
on College and Assembly
streets.
“Then it’ll be a parking
PLAZA • 2
Where it’s goin ’ down
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wMl*** Police roadblocks / checkpoints
EZ3 Demolition Comm nd Center
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>; ^ j j p| i i
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J __^aiai ii
^L - ' '■' ■ > ni i Wbertt Best Vantage pOlfltS OTC
f^pTV: 5 % lllaipl mMst/m /u*t outside the ibeik points along
jlilp j |||||||| J |H«1|| ii Assembly and Pendleton itreeti
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"sourc^oCSoI! 75 ice Department
►Senate forgives
AAAS loan
Monetary misunderstandings, low revenue
preventedfrat from paying step show winners
Jess Davis
STAFF writer
The Senate Finance
Committee forgave a $2,000
loan to the Association of
African American Students
o>n Wednesday to allow the
P>rganization to pay prizes
for its November step show.
Committee chairman
Chase Stoudenmire, a
second-year history student,
cast a tie-breaking vote after
a long debate.
“We felt it was in the
best interest for all parties
ihvolved for us to forgive the
loan and use this as a lesson
and learning experience for
AAAS and all other student
organizations,” Stoudenmire
said.
Misunderstandings about
Kutside bank accounts
nd how university funds
can be used, combined
with low revenue intake
from the event, led to the
organization’s inability of
being able to pay the step
show winners. Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity and Zeta
Phi Beta Sorority won
$1,000 prizes but have not
received the money.
The loan forgiveness
from the Senate Finance
Committee was a last resort
for AAAS, AAAS treasurer
LaTanya Johnson said
at Wednesday’s meeting.
Johnson, a second-year
history student, pleaded her
case in front of the Finance
Committee and said nothing
like this would happen again.
She said AAAS cancelled
their next step show and
would have only free events
from now on.
Johnson cited the
inexperience of the AAAS
officers and low income
onus • 2
Native American chief: Alaskan refuge drilling matter of \'survival’
Jackie Alexander
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
For Americans, it’s a
matter of more oil or higher
gas prices. For a speaker
at the School of Law on
Wednesday, it’s a matter of
life and death.
Chief Joe Linklater of
the Vuntut Gwich’in First
Nation spoke to USC
students and the public
about his perspective
on drilling in the Arctic
National Wddlife Refuge,
or ANWR, in Alaska.
Linklater said the
Gwich’in, a Native
American tribe inhabiting
northern parts of Alaska
and western Canada, have
a deep relationship with
the caribou that goes back
thousands of years.
The Gwich’in rely on
the caribou as a source of
food and see it as part of
a fragile environmental
infrastructure, Linklater
said.
That infrastructure is the
subject of controversy in
relation to a hotly contested
proposal from the Bush
administration to explore
oil reserves in ANWR.
While 2005 saw a bulk
Meg Gaillard / THE GAMECOCK
Chief Joe Linklater speaks Wednesday at the law school.
of the fight in the energy
and budget bills of the
U.S. House and Senate,
the potential for Congress
to approve drilling is still
possible.
With proposed drilling
in ANWR, Linklater said
the Gwich’in’s culture is
endangered. The mortality
rate for caribou would
increase, leading to the
death of other animals.
“If the number of caribou
falls below 100,000, the
numbers won’t go back
up,” Linklater said. “The
next to go are moose, then
small fur-bearing animals
and then the predators.”
“We have an obligation
to protect things that gives
us sustenance,” Linklater
said. “If we are not able to
maintain a healthy lifestyle,
then our culture dies.”
Linklater said the United
Nations has covenants that
state indigenous people
have the right to maintain
their subsistence.
“(Drilling in ANWR) is a
statement from the United
States that human rights
aren’t important,” Linklater
said.
He said the younger
generation of Gwich’in
have become leaders in
the fight to protect the
area. Many have spoken in >
international conventions
about the issue, including
a protest last September
on the lawn of the U.S,
Capitol.
“The youth see their
future in jeopardy,”
Linklater said. “They are
becoming more aware
environmentally, politically
and culturally.”
Linklater said that after
10 years of drilling to reach
011 beneath the ice, the
supply would last only 200
days and reduce gas prices
by a penny.
“We are not
environmentalists as a
government,” Linklater
said. “We are fighting this
issue for one reason and
one reason only: survival.”
Angela Viney, executive
director of the South
Carolina Wildlife
Federation, said it’s
important for people to
learn about the area and
the potential problems.
“It’s important for people
to hear what could happen
to a very pristine area of
Alaska,” Viney said.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu
Viewpoints
Aaron Brazier questions
some students missing
sarcasm all together;
Chase Stoudenmire
defends CP’s choice of
‘Real World’ event.
A
The Mix
Rock 101,
Rock Theory...
Marty Fort opened up
Columbia’s own school
of rock for artists
ofariv age.
Sports
Sign on the
dotted line
Twenty-six football
recruits committed
with letters of intent
on Wednesday. £
INDEX
Comics & Crossword..6
Classifieds.8
Horoscopes.6
Opinion.3
Police Report..2