THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250484
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONYA WOODS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Capping almost four years of fund raising that tapped donations from thousands of individuals, Old Dominion University broke ground Tuesday on a project to extend its brick wall along Hampton Boulevard.
With the help of a ``Buy a Brick'' campaign, the University Wall committee raised well over the $500,000 needed for the project.
``This is really a people's wall,'' ODU President James V. Koch said at the groundbreaking ceremony at the intersection of Hampton Boulevard and 49th Street.
Harry Creemers, director of ODU development, said about 7,000 individual donors contributed; 2,200 bought bricks for $100 each, and 30 sponsored 10-foot sections of the wall for $2,500.
A. Parker Neff said he bought a section to dedicate to his father, Clarence Neff.
``My father was the designer of the first wall, so I decided to buy a portion of the new wall in his memory,'' Neff said.
The original wall, built in the late 1930s, runs along Hampton Boulevard from Bolling Avenue to 49th Street. The new portion, brick with wrought-iron sections, will run from 49th to 43rd Street.
Creemers said construction will begin in about two weeks and should be completed by fall.
``It gives a distinctive appearance to the campus,'' said James Tyson of alumni relations. ``The wall lets people know they are approaching ODU.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
Old Dominion University officials break ground Tuesday on an
extension of the school's wall. From left are Wells Gresham, an
alumni and chairman of the University Wall committee; James Koch,
ODU president; and Kay Kemper, vice president of institutional
advancement.
by CNB