The Bryan Center walkway, oft criticized for being too narrow, too unimaginative and too unsightly, may soon bear the brunt of even more abuse.
Executive Vice President Tallman Trask said he wants to engage the community in the destruction of the bridge, which will be replaced by a large, two-level plaza once construction is underway on the new West Campus Student Center. Construction--and destruction--cannot begin, however, until the Board of Trustees approves final plans for the plaza.
Trask noted that, although the University has a general conception for the plaza, there are still many details that need to be worked out. He estimated that work will begin next summer.
"In a couple of months, when we show people what we have in mind for a replacement for the bridge, people will be quite excited about the difference," Trask said. "Right now, it's ugly and dysfunctional. People will cheer a lot when the bridge goes away, so we've got to celebrate its destruction."
Trask said he has no definite plans for engaging the community in the task, although he said a few ideas have crossed his mind. "Maybe we can have a lottery," he said with a slight smile. "For $100 you can jackhammer the bridge for five minutes. For $10,000 you can put in a stick of dynamite."
He noted, however, that the University does not plan to turn the bridge's destruction into a fundraiser. "Maybe we'll just pass out jackhammers," he said.
Many students said that, given the chance, they would like to have a go at tearing down the walkway.
"Wailing on that eyesore with a sledgehammer would be a great way to relieve some stress," said junior Zane Curtis-Olsen. "As a representation of the administration and their control of campus space, the destruction of the walkway would be a sublime act of creative destruction. Much like our Russian friends destroying statues of Lenin after the fall of communism. Or like our Calvinist friends as they urinated on crucifixes in Geneva."
Curtis-Olsen added, "And smashing stuff is cool."
Like Curtis-Olsen, sophomore Elliot Voytov saw the possibility of connecting the bridge's destruction with an historical episode. "We could paint it in graffiti like the Berlin Wall and take it down like they took the wall down," he said.
Voytov added that kegs could lend a more festive atmosphere to the project, although he speculated that the administration might not want to mix alcohol with destruction. "We might take down the Bryan Center too," he said with a laugh.
A number of students said they thought the destruction of the bridge could be a popular event.
"I think a lot of people would like to mess something up," said junior Gary Sing. "If the walkway is going to be destroyed anyway, we might as well take the opportunity. How many times to you get a chance to destroy a landmark?"
Although some women said they might like to participate in the bridge's destruction, most seemed reluctant to join in. "I'd watch, but I wouldn't actually want to participate," said sophomore Jessica Caballero.
Kelly Bruno, also a sophomore, echoed Caballero's sentiment, adding, however, that an extraordinarily stressful day might incline her otherwise.
Senior Lauren Fath said she was more willing to participate--but with one proviso.
"I have no current complaints about the walkway, but if they decided to retroactively give me a full scholarship, I'd gladly destroy it for them," she said.
A number of men, on the other hand, seemed to have a bigger appetite for destruction. Suggestions for how to tackle the project ranged from sledgehammering the bridge to packing it with explosives to pounding it down with a wrecking ball from the service road that runs under the bridge.
Junior Vincent Mao, who said he trudges down the walkway every time he needs to get to his engineering classes on Science Drive, said the project could be an interesting one for engineers. "We could find the walkway's weak spots," he said. "Every structure has a weak spot. We could just pack those with detonation packs."
Nikhil Jariwala, a junior, said he did not care how the bridge was destroyed, as long as its destruction was caught on film.
"Then they could let people watch it in slo-mo," Jariwala said. "No one's going to believe in the future that there used to be this ugly walkway." Jariwala added that a bonfire to celebrate the demolition was a "must-have."
Jariwala said the University could give chunks as keepsakes to graduating students. "Knowing Duke, they'll probably sell it to us," he added.
Others, however, did not seem to want to hold on to any evidence of the walkway's existence.
"Any method that is safe and involves strategic placement of explosives would be quite viable, preferably some technique that results in a maximum of dust and a minimum of chunks," said Charles Tao, a junior.
Most students said they would shell out big bucks to participate in the destruction of the bridge.
"The amount I would pay would be restricted to how much it would cost to acquire the necessary supplies," Tao said. "If our civil and mechanical engineering departments are what they're cracked up to be, then they should be able to supply the manpower themselves without difficulty."
Andrew Gerst contributed to this story.
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