by David Cox
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Renovations to repair the first 50 years of Senior Walk began on Monday.
According to a press release, multiple portions of the original Senior Walk are cracked and have been gradually deteriorating. It says replacing the sidewalk will address safety concerns.
To replace the sidewalk, crews will have to use different material to keep Old Main at a certain designation.
“Because we are a historic site, or Old Main is a historic site,” said Breanna Lacy, Communication Coordinator for Facilities Management, “we have to stick with the materials that were available then in order to maintain that status.”
The university does have plans to preserve and display pieces of the original Senior Walk, but nothing is set in stone.
“The plan is that we’ll be able to remove pieces, hold it, and then eventually come up with an exhibit, probably in Old Main,” Lacy said.
“Now what that exhibit actually looks like, we have an idea,” Lacy said, “but once the pieces come out it could change depending on how well they can hold themselves together.
Senior Walk starts at Old Main with the first graduating class of 1876, but didn’t originate until almost 30 years later with the class of 1905.
“There was some wet concrete, some students just added their name to it,” Lacy said. Students from the class of 1904 came back to campus to add their names to the sidewalk.
“Throughout the years, the graduating classes would hand-write their name until 1935,” Lacy said, “which is when the university officially started adding the names ourselves.”
Lacy said the project is expected to be completed by the end of the semester.