News
NAC construction begins near the Oval
Story by Carly Flandro | November 19, 2008
Montana Kaimin
Lizi Wirak walked her bike up to the newly fenced-in quadrant of the Oval and peered through the chain links.
“This is a really bad idea,” said Wirak, a sophomore.
Since Friday, the heart of the University of Montana campus has been partially fenced off to construct the Native American Center – a change that’s raised many questions and concerns among UM students and faculty.
The fence is set up on land between the Lommasson Center and the International House, where the Native American Center will sit. The southwest quadrant of the Oval is also enclosed to make room for construction equipment and materials. These areas will be fenced off until construction is complete in the spring of 2010.
Chloe Ross and Amy Else, seniors in psychology, looked at the piles of uprooted trees and stumps that lay behind the fence Tuesday afternoon.
“Why are they taking down trees on the Oval if the building isn’t even going there?” she asked.
Several trees were removed from the Oval to make room for building equipment, according to Kevin Krebsbach, the assistant director of planning and construction for UM. A total of twelve trees will be uprooted.
“[The quadrant] will get pulverized in the next couple of months,” Krebsbach said, explaining that it will soon be a dirt patch.
But, he added, all the trees, sprinklers and grass will be replaced once construction is finished.
The tree removal was the first step of the Oval Restoration Plan – a plan to cut down all the trees inside the Oval and plant a ring of new trees along its rim.
But some students are still wary of the new development.
“I really enjoy campus, it’s normally such a beautiful place,” Else said. “I just wish there wouldn’t be construction for one semester.”
Else said she was annoyed by the construction because it makes walking from class to class a challenge.
A few feet away from the construction zone, Dave Patterson sat in his office in the Mathematics Building and looked out the window at the Oval.
Patterson, the chairman of the mathematical sciences department, is concerned by the noise pollution the construction will bring.
“Noise on the Oval is always an issue during classes, especially in the spring and summer when we have to keep the windows open,” he said, adding that the math building doesn’t have air conditioning.
But Krebsbach said the disruptions will be worth it.
“[The Native American Center] is a much-needed facility. Native American Studies has really outgrown their little house,” he said in reference to the Native American Studies Building that’s currently between Jesse Hall and the Lommasson Center.
The Native American Center will also be the first building from UM to receive certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.
“That makes me feel a lot better,” Else said. “[The Native American Studies department] deserves a new building for sure. It’s an important part of Montana.”
carly.flandro@umontana.edu
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Comments
Wait wait wait, so the reason that we are going to fence off a significant hunk of campus and put up yet another new building is to study and celebrate a culture that valued preservation? This campus is almost a complete circle of red brick now. Excuse my ignorance on the subject but isn’t there an existing Native American facility on campus? A recently built one?
Posted by patrickm on 11/19/2008 at 11:25 am
I don’t think that the building of the NAC has anything to do with whether or not Native cultures valued preservation. It is being built because we value education and what this center means to future generations of Native students who come here to U of M. Remember that we love this place as much as you and that our school spirit doesn’t hang on the balance of whether or not we have to walk around a fence to make it too class. Our people lived and died with the dream of someday having our place in this country recognized and honored!There is no recent NAS building, there is just that little brick house you see as you walk onto campus. It is very much inadaquate and this new building is going provide opportunities for students to learn and earn degrees here at UM. Its a new day in America and this Native American Center at UM is a manifestation of this change and it is something we can all be proud of, so cowboy up and lets move on.
Posted by peltier on 11/19/2008 at 5:58 pm
I should have done my research before commenting but you are correct sir, the classrooms that i assumed were Native Studies rooms are not. Also it seems that the new NAC building will be very green. However, my original point is still valid. When i was in NAH 101, i was taught that most native cultures did not have a concept for owning land. This attitude contributed to their culture of preservation and living in harmony with the land. The creation of yet another new building seems directly opposed to the ideas created by Native Americans. It subtracts from the messages that Indians can share with the rest of us. Why not hold classes in the many empty classrooms that i see all over campus? The NAH class that i took as a freshman was not taught in the tiny NAS building. Also, Cowboy up? Really?
Posted by patrickm on 11/19/2008 at 8:54 pm
Actually Native Americans did have a strong perception of land ownership. the idea that they didn’t is part of the myth perpetuated by goverments to justify the wrongful taking of their lands. I understand where you are coming from but the fact remains that this new building will bring people together to study and work in a place where we as Native Americans will no longer be invisible. And although many of us (myself included) will have to deal with walking around the construction area the benefits of the NAC will reach far into the future and inspire many young people come here to UM and learn about and share Native culture and History.And there are no classes taught in the NAS building we have now because there is hardly room for the offices it currently houses. And the cowboy up thing, well thats just an expression, poorly chosen I guess but hey we are in Montana right? The thing is that we are all in this together and although it is a bit of a hassle, maybe in the end we can have somewhere to sit and talk about our differences.
Posted by peltier on 11/19/2008 at 9:30 pm
Well i am disappointed in the construction but it sounds beneficial. Actually it was my Native American studies professor, Mrs. Juneau, who taught us that there was no perception of land ownership.
Posted by patrickm on 11/19/2008 at 10:44 pm
