I was on campus in early May, visiting an academic department my daughter is interested in. During our visit, we spent a bit of time in the MSC...even bowled a game or two in the basement. It just occurred to me that that was probably my last visit to the MSC in a configuration that was essentially the same as during my time on campus (early '80s).

MSC Renovation Website:

http://msclivingtradition.tamu.edu/index.html

I keep looking at the architectural renderings of the planned renovation and I can't warm up to them. It looks sort of like they're building an airport terminal building, rather than a comfortable place to spend time. Perhaps much will be accomplished with furnishings?

Maybe I'm just behind the times? I know change has to happen and generally is good once we get used to the change. Maybe current/future students don't see the MSC as a place to hang any more? Living in the Corps dorms as I did, the MSC was truly my campus living room. It just doesn't look like that's what will be there when they're done with this renovation.

Please, somebody correct me if I'm wrong!

--John

i spent a great deal of time in the MSC during my time at TAMU and have spent a fair share of time there since returning to work on campus. i think the growth of academics on west campus has limited student exposure to and reliance on the MSC. so many students never even come to main campus after their first year or so....

IMO, they ruined the MSC/Flagroom when they hung that art gallery onto the side of the building. It just ruined what the Flagroom used to be.

And the Class of '04's "generous" gift of carpet and new furniture. Yech. My class sucks.

While we're talking about new army going to hell, can I just get in a gratuitous grrr for what they've done to Bottlecap Alley?

What happened to the flag room? I don't see it in the renderings.

I found this rendering of what the flag room is going to become. Apparently it will be renamed the "The 12th Man Hall". Going to miss the flag room





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Its not rocket science

I'm sorry...but that just looks like a boarding area at a modern airport. I have yet to find a uniform on any of the "people" in these renderings....

*sigh*

and how the hell am i going to take a nap in there

Our campus architecture over the past 40 years has been terrible. I shudder when I see the monstrosities that are Blocker, O&M, Northside balcony dorms, etc.

What the hell did they do to bottlecap alley?

I swear every architect we have working on this campus are rejects from East Germany. If I was a tu grad and wanted to give A&M ugly buildings just to p them off, I couldn't dream up the crapola that our guys come up with.

Really, who approves this stuff?

Can someone explain why this project is supposed to take so damn long? I've heard 3 years, but are there any updates?

For that matter, what's the purpose of a complete renovation?

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Really, who approves this stuff?

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A committee.

i didnt go to a&m, but the wife did. i loved the flag room, my grandfather proposed to my grandmother there in about '54 or '55.

the room was a really neat place to be in, too bad it is being done away with.

Didn't go to your school but every other year I go up there to see the Horns play you in football and always go to the MSC. Great place.

My favorite area is the rear near the lounge where the Medal of Honor awardees are honored. Used to take my sons back there and we would read about their actions. Hope they keep that.

I also liked the paintings in that lounge of the Texas sites.

I own a couple of yearbooks from the early '20s and it is interesting to see how the campus has changed but some has been retained.

I found the proposed floor plans in a presentation on this website:
http://msclivingtradition.tamu.edu/index.html

It appears that they aren't going to touch the Flag Room or the hallways containing the wood carvings or the Medals of Honor. The 12th Man Hall is being built along the side of the building that is adjacent to Rudder Tower and Rudder Plaza and doesn't appear to replace the Flag Room.

The images in the presentation are too grainy to read the labels, but here they are:



In the above image, I believe the 12th Man Hall stretches along the right (it's light yellow). The Flag Room is in the middle in a reddish color.

Here is the second floor:



It appears to me that most of the new construction is going to be around the periphery of the building. I'm not necessarily wild about the changes that they are making. One of the things that I like about the MSC is that the design is understated and on first approach you don't really get a sense of just how big of a building it really is. Still, I think that they put a lot of thought into retaining the most important features of the building.

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i loved the flag room, my grandfather proposed to my grandmother there in about '54 or '55.

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Perhaps he proposed in the MSC, but not in the flag room, which was added circa 1970.

Thanks for the info blueag...I didn't see those before but the renderings made it look like the flag room was gone.

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Perhaps he proposed in the MSC, but not in the flag room, which was added circa 1970.

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thanks for the heads-up. i asked him where that took place, and it was in the msc, but just some sitting room with a bunch of chairs by a window he said.

not sure what made me think flag room.

Serious question:
does anyone know what happened to the original Bevo hide was once displayed in the flag room?

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does anyone know what happened to the original Bevo hide was once displayed in the flag room?

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Never saw it (especially there) but I have read that we did have the hide at one time.

There used to be (circa 1960s) a museum on campus. Whatever happened to it and all its displays?

Canyon, that stuff is rumored to be at Riverside campus.

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My favorite area is the rear near the lounge where the Medal of Honor awardees are honored. Used to take my sons back there and we would read about their actions. Hope they keep that.

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Agree 100%. That and the verse on the wall down the hallway about "no greater love". My son is now old enough to appriciate what these men did.

the flagroom is staying, if fact the floor plan of the "new MSC" (at least 1st floor) is almost identical to the current one except with additions on the east and west sides. I still don't understand how the project is going to take so long, the building is not that big in the grand scheme of things, hopefully they are allowing alot of extra time so they can finish early.

They are likely ripping a lot of stuff out, including water/waste lines, cooling and heating, etc so it's like a gut and rebuild. That takes time.

And in a building that old you will have some mold and asbestos that will have to be take out, which also adds time and $$ to the project cost.

That being said, 3-years does seem like a long time.

One word as to why so long "asbestos"

I wish they would have just left it alone, the new pics look gay

Even if the replica Medals of Honor are gone for 3 years, there's still a great memorial to the 7 in the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center (between the Quad and Koldus/Spence). You can see 4 of the original medals, other items belonging to the recipients, and read biographies on all of them.

I don't know about this apparent other museum from the '60s, but you should all check out the Corps Center if you haven't. It's a great tribute to not only Corps history, but all of the University.