Demolition of Old Jamrich Hall

It finally happened.  After being in the planning process and in construction for several years, the new Jamrich Hall on Northern Michigan University's campus in Marquette slowly began to rise and as of this month, is nearly close to being finished.  At first a new building wasn't even in the picture as plans were in place to remodel the existing Jamrich Hall.  But eventually the university found that a new building would end up costing just as much as remodeling the existing building, and they'd actually be downsizing the amount of space they needed campus-wide by consolidating two buildings into one.  It makes sense and I completely understand why they went that route.  In today's public university funding shortfalls, colleges and universities across the country are looking at ways to save money.  And if they have less infrastructure to maintain, then it will provide for some cost savings for higher education institutions.  Despite all that, it was still sad for me to see the old Jamrich Hall on campus come crumbling down this week.

I have a lot of memories from that old building and not just those from when I attended college at NMU.  I think it all first started when I was a young kid in elementary school.  Each year Young Authors was held in that building.  For as long as I can remember, during each grade we created a story of our own, made it into a book, and presented it at Young Authors.  Then there was a gathering at the end of the day in the large lecture hall in Jamrich where an accomplished author would come and speak.  It wasn't just our school that attended, but schools from all across Marquette and Alger Counties.  So we got to meet other kids from different areas, too.  At the time, I can say that I hated the experience, especially when I had to be in a group where I knew none of the kids.  But looking back on it now, I think it was a pretty worth-while experience, and one that took place in the old Jamrich Hall.

Another memorable grade school experience from that building came when the Science Olympiad competitions were held on campus.  Now the majority of the time, the focus of that competition was in another building on campus.  But at the end of the competition during the awards ceremony, that took place in the old Jamrich Hall, once again in the large lecture all, room 102.   For our school and our Science Olympiad teams, we always excelled and often won first and second place, not just our junior high team, but our high school team as well.  Each competition it always seemed like we metaled in, so members of our school would always be up on stage when our school name was announced as winners for each event and eventually, for the entire competition.  When we'd either win first or second place as a team, it meant we moved on in the competition and competed at the state level.  The statewide competition for Science Olympiad was held at Michigan State University.  So the ramifications of winning the "local" competition were pretty big and exciting.  But I remember many awards ceremonies in that building and all of them were positive experiences.  Many times it was pure jubilation and glee after our school came away with many metals and trophies.

And now for my college experiences in old Jamrich Hall, where the bulk of my memories exist inside that building.  As a freshman, most of my classes took place away from Jamrich, as I was a computer networking major.  So at the time, I had a lot of classes in the science buildings.  But eventually as I changed my major from being computer-based to English, the bulk of my classes would end up taking place in Jamrich Hall. Let me just say this; all in all there wasn't anything structurally amazing about the building.  It was basically a big square box; the first floor having all of the large lecture halls and the upstairs holding the smaller, more intimate classrooms.  I thought it had a bit of a unique design, however.  Each corner of the building had an entryway.  Each of the four doorways leading to the upstairs were painted a different color: red, yellow, blue, and green.  If I had to guess, I'd say it was for if someone were to get lost, then they knew which entryway they came from.  The main floor had curved hallways, which the outer walls of the larger lecture halls were also shaped in such a way.  Other than that, it was your basic university lecture hall.  Lots of brick, cinder block, floor tile, ceiling tile, chalkboards, desks, tables, benches, you name it.  I don't think there was one semester where I didn't have a class in that building.  It may not have been an amazing building to look at or set foot in, but it's one where I have many memories being in.  And I guess that's why it makes it sad when it's coming down.

I experienced this one other time in my life, when a major instructional building faces the wrecking ball.  I can say that I was too little to really be too attached to that particular building but for many in our small community, it held so many spectacular memories.  It was the old high school building and when demolition day came, you can imagine it created quite a stir to see the limestone structure come crashing down.  That was nearly 25 years ago and the community has since moved on and embraced the new school building.  A famous quote came from that experience and I still remember it to this day.  "It's sad, but necessary;" someone commented regarding the demolition.  And in the case of old Jamrich Hall, it truly is sad, but necessary.  I have learned this week that one of the reasons why it became so costly to renovate the old building was due to its sinking foundation.  It would have taken a lot of money to address that situation.  So, as much as I would have liked to have seen the old building renovated and kept around for many more years to come, I think it's time to move forward.  A grand new building has risen on NMU's campus, one that will be around for many generations to come.  It will still hold the Jamrich name and will be embraced like every other building on campus.  Yet the memories I hold from old Jamrich Hall will never fade.  It will be the same for every other person who attended NMU and had classes in that building.  I will miss that old building and I regret not setting foot inside one last time.  However, life goes on. But memories never truly die.