One brick at a time
As stadium construction continues to cost more than it’s worth, the newest crisis has been resolved cheaply and, some might say, unsatisfactorily. The newest addition to the massive construction that has monopolized Stadium Road for the past year is a giant concrete wall. You may have seen it — it’s pretty ugly. But since the advent of the Big White Tent era, we have grown accustomed to watching the slow erosion of the beauty of Mr. Jefferson’s carefully architectured Grounds. In the case of the wall, however, students are not the only people being affected.
The wall was erected to create some separation between the stadium and the surrounding residential neighborhood. Its construction was a part of the new parking lot. Charlottesville residents, however, were a little miffed at the prospect of an ugly, unadorned wall facing their houses. The concrete eventually will be covered over by ivy, pine trees and various other shrubbery. But as any gardener could tell you, the planting and growing time for the greenery will get lengthy before satisfactory results are seen.
Residents requested that in the meantime, the wall be covered with a brick veneer. The University objected to this plan, saying that the veneer would cost too much, and that the money wasn’t worth it since the wall eventually would be covered in ivy anyway. A call onsite yielded the information that the brick veneer would have cost the University “several hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Always the consumer advocate, we at The Cavalier Daily decided to take the job to some local construction companies and see just how expensive it might be. Keep in mind that the figures are rough estimates, based on a wall about 100 feet in length, ranging from two to 25 feet in height, and 10 inches wide.
Abrahamse & Co. Builders Inc., located on Linden Avenue, gave us an estimate of around $35,000 to put the veneer on both sides of the wall. This cost includes about 21,000 bricks at $350 for 1,000, mortar, sand, about $16,000 in labor, plus 14 percent overhead and an 8 percent profit margin.
The estimate given us by Goldsmith Construction, Inc., may be a bit more accurate since the person we spoke to was familiar with the wall. This estimate of about $45,000 was based on the same dimensions, however, it would only cover the side of the wall that faces the road. Recognizing that construction of a brick veneer includes more than just bricks, and that were the University to bid the job out to contractors, other factors might raise the cost, Goldsmith did say that the job could cost as much as $85,000. But that’s still a far cry from several hundred thousand.
We understand, however, the University’s concern about spending money when it can just wait out the half-decade or so of growing time. What the heck, it’s not like we need a pretty Grounds — we’re at No. 2 anyway.
We also understand, however, the concerns of the Stadium Road residents. They don’t want to look out their respective windows and see an ugly gray wall, even if it’s only for five or so years. So we appeal to the greater University community to help these poor residents out. Bricks at Abrahamse & Co. cost $350 for 1,000. Let’s allow donors to pay $20 or so per brick, engrave the bricks with donors’ names, and build a veneer for our suffering Stadium Road residents! It’ll take a while, but we can do it, one brick at a time. We’ll start with brick No. 1. Inquiries should be directed to cavdaily@cavalierdaily.com.