Landscape Architect Articles

LASN PMBR June 200906-01-09 | News

Paving the Way to Graduation

by Gregory A. Kirkman, Commercial Sales Manager, Pavestone Company

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All Images Courtesy Pavestone

At college and university campuses all over the country students are using pavers to guide them on their journey to higher education. Whether it is to find the administration building, the business or science department or even the football, baseball, basketball or tennis facilities, all the students have to do is stay on the paver pathways.

At The University of Tulsa, Robert Shipley and his staff have installed hundreds of thousands of feet of pavers over the last 10 years to tie the campus together and return the campus to a more traditional feel.

Pavers are not just used to get from one class to the next. At the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, a 10-foot, laser water cut Razorback greets alumni and warns opposing basketball fans to tread lightly on the home of the hogs.

Maintenance

Once the installation of the pavers started however, some very nice additional benefits became apparent. One is the ease of maintenance and removal. Mr. Shipley said quite frankly, ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The pavers used at the University of Tulsa age quickly and stop aging quickly, which in Shipley?EUR??,,????'?????<

Connecting and Directing

Joe Howell, a partner in Howell and Vancuren Landscape Architecture in Tulsa, and his firm are very instrumental in working with the university and Mr. Shipley?EUR??,,????'?????<

At Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the pavers also fit in perfectly to the remodeled stadiums idea of a new stadium that feels old and traditional; it looks like it has been there for years but has all of the bells and whistles necessary for today?EUR??,,????'?????<

One of the most hallowed pieces of ground on the entire University of Mississippi in Oxford campus is this stretch of pavers engraved with graduates names. In fact, every fall, as the Ole Miss Rebel football team travels to their stadium to defend their campus against the invading teams from the SEC, thousands of former, current and future students line the pavers to offer their support.

Paving The Way To Education

Pavers have also become more and more a part of the educational process. Starting in 2002, Pavestone Company along with one of their largest distributors started a college development program at OSU. Tim and Sandy Shoemaker, owners of The Pave-Stone Store of Oklahoma, in Tulsa, were constantly being told by former OSU grads that it would have been nice to get access to pavers and their proper installation and application benefits while still in school. Tim approached Michael Holmes, an Assistant Professor in the Landscape and Horticulture Department at OSU, who was very interested in incorporating the pavers into his 3rd year means and methods classes.

Starting in the fall of 2002, a yearly class project brings the students from landscape architecture, landscape construction and the horticulture departments into a combined effort to work together on a hands-on class project designed and installed by the students with supervision and instruction from Pavestone. According to Holmes, ?EUR??,,????'?????<

In the last 6 years this program has grown to over 20 schools around the country whom are adding the concrete pavers as an additional educational tool for their students. Schools like Kansas State, Mississippi State, Auburn University, and Texas A&M have joined OSU and BYU-Idaho in using pavers to help enhance their student?EUR??,,????'?????<

Back at The University of Tulsa, pavers continue to be a huge part of the fabric of the campus atmosphere. Additional pavers are already in the works on several new buildings going up around the beautiful downtown campus. While the actual setting is minutes from downtown, the pavers help make the students feel like they are in a quite, secluded environment, perfect for learning and maturing into the leaders of tomorrow. Michael Henjum, owner of Concrete Paver Systems out of Dallas, likes how the pavers make the campus feel: ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Connecting With History

Pavers even play an important role in the final grand act of college?EUR??,,????'?????<

Names on the pavers date back to before the civil war and include two of the Manning?EUR??,,????'?????<

The University of Tulsa students know what that history feels like; as early as 1870, graduating students would covertly climb up the stairs in Kendall Hall to ring the bell in the tower to let everyone know they had reached the ultimate college achievement. While the original Kendall Hall no longer exists, the Famous Kendall Bell most certainly does. With graduation from the university in hand, the senior students earn the right to walk across the pavers to Bayless Plaza, and through the old Kendall Tower to once again ring the bell to announce to the world they have completed the task and are ready and willing to lead Tulsa, Oklahoma and the world into the future. I am sure Mr. Kendall would be proud; I know Robert Shipley is and all it took was just to follow the pavers.