The Ruins of Presidents Park Williamsburg

What draws us to ruins? The nostalgia of yesteryear? The perverse nature of decay? The visual history etched in cracks and holes? The artistry of the perfectly imperfect? The juxtaposition of knowing this crumbling setting used to be taken care of? Catching a fragment of what-was before it completely disappears? Paying homage to great dreams no longer dreamt? Imagining the What it was, What happened, and What it could still be? Whatever it is, a single thing or a mix of many, we are drawn to these places.

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In 2004, Presidents Park opened in Williamsburg, Virginia as a new history attraction, celebrating all the 42 elected leaders of the United States of America (as of then). After first starting at the visitor center, guests would stroll the grounds past 15-18' tall busts of each president, learning each man's history and accomplishments. It was meant to help boost the local stagnating tourist market. Unfortunately, due to many factors (a recession, high ticket prices, no repeatability), Presidents Park did not deliver and closed in 2010.

The busts, created by Houston artist David Adickes, sat fenced off in place for a couple years. In 2012, the property was being sold off, and construction recycling company Hampton Roads Materials was contracted to demolish the heads. The company's owner Harold Hankins couldn't bear destroying them, so he decided to buy them and truck them to his property. And there they have sat since, decaying and damaged. Between sanctioned tours and urban explorers visiting the property, the heads have gained a surge in popularity, more than they ever did at Presidents Park. Last year, Hankins publicly proposed a new development idea, The Ruines at Hankins Folly, with the presidents as its centerpiece. They would be preserved and stabilized as-is, as their ruined state has drawn more interest and attention than when they were pristine and intact. These plans were later put on hold as Hankins returned to the drawing board. 

I was able to to procure a tour ticket through John Plashal Photo, which is currently the only way for the public to visit the heads legally. This had been on my bucket list for quite a few years, and glad the stars finally aligned for me to visit!

The Hampton Roads Materials site is an organized chaos of torn-up concrete, dirt, and other materials. It's a little bit apocalyptic. After checking in, I parked my car by the main house, and walked down a lane. Passing foliage and a shipping container, the heads slowly revealed themselves.

Concrete waiting to be recycled

Shipping container holding and surrounded by Presidents Park ephemera

The Presidents Park Williamsburg Busts!

The heads are gigantic. It's so cool to look around them and explore. Each one has weathered in a different way. Their number is incredible. I also like the haphazard, condensed layout they are in.

Guests were told ahead of time to wear boots. It was quite muddy the day I visited, so I was glad I did, as it would have been impossible to reach the busts in the back two rows without them.

Love the details captured

John Adams partially buried under dirt

I loved looking inside the heads, seeing their interior supports. I am always amazed at how something may look like a solid chunk of material, but in actuality is only a couple of inches thick.

A missing jaw provides a look into this president's head

Looking through a hole in one president's shoulder/base

The back of some president's head

The 2' Obama mock-up bust
The park couldn't raise the money to commission
the full-size bust before it closed.

 

The experience is a good time. You're allowed to wander around the heads. At two points during our time, there were group talks, where John and the other tour leader went over the history and fun facts on the busts, as well as presidential trivia (with prizes!). Both were really informative and enjoyable to listen to. Now thinking about it, the tour was pretty much what the Presidents Park experience would have been when it was open. But now instead of the busts symbolizing a man/history, they themselves have a history that is visually represented on them. They're taken out of a museum setting and placed on the ground, allowing you to get a closer look at them. It's this failed funky roadside attraction that is thriving in a muddy field. It's so strange, but it works.

If you would like to visit the Presidents Park Heads, check out John Plashal Photo for all the upcoming offerings. I only took a regular tour, but there are specialty tours (evening, sunset, advanced photography, etc) available. Enjoy!!

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Alright. So most people would stop at that point and say, that's the ruins of Presidents Park! And that's all good and dandy, but that's really only half of the story. The heads may have moved, but the former grounds are still around and have been largely untouched since the heads' removal. If you know me, I like sharing the whole story. So let's now visit the other ruins of Presidents Park Williamsburg!!

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The former Presidents Park visitor center still stands. The outside appears the same as it did in its park heyday, an obviously imitation Georgian façade with a lack of windows towards the center and four awkwardly-narrow columns holding up a modest portico. The inside appears to have been reconfigured for office use, with the original lobby sectioned off. Along its backside is a second floor deck, where you could get views of the entire park.

Backside of the former visitor center

Presidents Park, 2005
View from the 2nd floor deck of the visitor center.
"263_6311" by David via Flickr [CC-BY-2.0]

Presidents Park, 2022
View from the 2nd floor deck of the former visitor center.

The grounds immediately surrounding the building and parking lot are maintained, while the park grounds have been allowed to grow freely. What had been a meadow-like space has now returned to its woodland roots. The only things on the outside denoting this had previously been developed are a lamppost and the concrete path that disappears into the foliage.

Let's go in.

Following the concrete path

I visited on an August summer day, so not only were all the plants vibrant and the bugs flying, but the Virginia heat and humidity was out in full force. Did I bring water or bug spray with me? Well, they were in my car, does that count? No, no it doesn't. By the time I realized I should have brought them along, my car was unreachable. I was too deep into the forest.

I did not plan this well.

There were moments I felt these presidential woods were never-ending. The path seemed longer than I thought it would be. It's just a loop, right? 

... Right??

Does this path actually go anywhere?!

And then, I started to notice the short cinderblock walls.

Like sarcophagi scattered through a wood, all missing their lid and contents. The former bases of the Presidents Park busts, all still in place. Some close to the main path, others a bit farther away. 

You get the idea. Initially slightly interesting, they quickly became a consistent, almost-banal feature every few yards along the path.


Somehow, through this neverending wood, I found the halfway point, which is marked by the gazebo. It was situated at the far end of the park.

My first view of the gazebo, buried by vines

Gazebo close-up, being swallowed by the foliage

Inside the gazebo

After being reinvigorated in my journey, I was surprised to quickly run into another structure I had no idea about. It was a rain covering for soda machines. It looked to be in fairly good condition. 

The rest of the journey was punctuated by the odd object here-and-there.

The top of a lamppost

Some snake rail fencing still in place

A former informational sign

More cinderblock bases

Finally, after passing 42 cinderblock walls, I emerged out of the forest. Was it still the same year? Was it the same century??

(Yes and yes.) (It had only been an hour.)

Tears of joy ran down my face, or at least would have if I hadn't already sweated out all of the water in my body. I hobbled past the old visitor center and into my car, chugging down my water bottle. I left, tired yet accomplished. I returned home and immediately showered.

If you want to visit the former grounds of Presidents Park Williamsburg, make sure to ask permission at the former visitor center first. Plan your visit in the fall or winter, when the foliage isn't as full and the humidity and heat are nonexistent.

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To conclude this post, while I haven't personally visited them, I want to share with you the other Presidents Parks and associated landmarks. 

In Leads, South Dakota, about 50 miles away from Mount Rushmore, there is a second abandoned Presidents Park. This was actually the first location, opening in 2003. Due to the same problems that plagued the Williamsburg location, it too closed in 2010. Unlike Williamsburg, South Dakota has more land available, both to give each president their own space, and for future expansion. 

The above video was taken in 2022. The busts are still in place along their path, and somehow are in really good condition. I've seen videos of Presidents Park Williamsburg while it was open, and some of the busts were weathering even back then. Maybe the humidity/weather combo in Virginia didn't bode well to the busts?

Then there was a set of busts made for an unrealized THIRD Presidents Park that would have been located in Pearland, Texas in the mid-2000's. Unfortunately, it never came to be. In 2020 (pre-pandemic), there was a groundbreaking in Huntsville, Texas for a public park that would have utilized the heads. Unfortunately, there does not appear to have been any other news since that announcement, so I'm not sure if that park is still happening. In the meantime, these busts are stored at artist David Adickes' studio in Houston, Texas, which is viewable both from the road and close-up whenever his studio is open to the public. This is also the only set that has a full-sized Obama bust!

Finally, there are individual busts scattered around*! Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush (#43) are hanging out at an RV park in Hermosa, South Dakota. There's an Eisenhower in a park in Denson, Texas, which is where he was born. My favorite I've stumbled across is American Statesmanship Park in Houston, Texas. Also known as Mount Rush Hour for being visible from a major highway interchange, it features Washington, Lincoln, and Texas' founding fathers Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. It's an interesting match-up. I'm sure there could be more busts, but these are the ones I've been able to look up.

* It is unclear to me if some of these were made specifically for these locations or borrowed from one of the existing Presidents Park sets.

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So, here is the final conclusion of this post, but maybe this is just the beginning for you and your journey to discover your own ruins of Presidents Park. Bon Voyage, safe travels, and please bring a water bottle! 

SOURCES:

YouTube: PRESIDENT'S PARK WILLIAMSBURG,VA 4 7 09

Dylan in the Details: Finding and Photographing the Abandoned President Heads Across the USA

The Item: Presidents Park groundbreaking set for Monday

Roadside America: Denison, Texas: Giant Head of President Eisenhower

Houstonia: Who Needs Mount Rushmore When We’ve Got Mount Rush Hour?

Additional Materials of Interest:

Building Obama (1:30:36 video)

Stolen Obama statue reunited with ex-presidents on farm (2019)

Yelp Reviews of President's Park

David Adickes on the Presidents Heads (2014)

The Texas Bucket List - David Adickes Studio in Houston (2020)

Roadside America: Presidents Park South Dakota

Alt Text

Hi there! I am going to start adding alt text to increase accessibility to my posts, especially since my work can use a lot of photos and images. Mainly this will cover newer posts going forward, but the long term plan is to add alt text to older blog posts. If there is an old post you are reading that doesn't yet have alt text and you really would like alt text to get the whole story, feel free to comment/message me and I will move that post to the front of the queue!

The Daniel School

Daniel School, circa 1961.
Courtesy of the CNU Archives

After The Architectural Ages of CNU, I felt remiss not covering the only building during the college’s first three years: the John W. Daniel School building. So here we are, coincidentally 50 years since its demolition, to share its tale.

Our story starts in 1899, when Central School opened on Thirty-Second Street in Newport News. It served as Newport News’ first permanent white high school, but held every other grade level as well.
Over the summer of 1910, with the deteriorating health of U.S. Senator and former Confederate Major John W. Daniel, the local John W. Daniel chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy was able to rename Central School in his honor. Daniel then passed away less than two weeks later.[1]

On the evening of June 4, 1913, the school burned down in what was called the “biggest and most spectacular blaze this city has known since two of the Chesapeake and Ohio docks were destroyed seventeen years ago.” Young boys had broken into the basement and were playing with a stove burner when they accidentally pulled a rubber hose off of the gas main. The gas lit up instantly from the stove’s fire, frightening the boys safely away from the building. It spread to the rest of building before help could arrive. Low water pressure, oil varnish-soaked wooden floors, and a light breeze kept firefighters and Good-Samaritan navy sailors fighting the blaze for hours.[2]

Once the fire was put out, what remained was only the exterior brick shell of the school. It was determined it was too damaged to be reused. The school would be rebuilt, but it would take a year to replace it. With no other white high school in the city, high school-level students would share George Washington and Thomas Jefferson Schools with the elementary grades in a split-shift style: elementary school would take place in the mornings starting at 8am, then after a reset high school would start at 1pm. It was not an ideal situation for anyone involved, but being one key school building short, everyone made do.[3]

The new school building was designed by Charles M. Robinson (1867-1932), a prolific Virginian architect. He was responsible for many Virginian colleges’ buildings and master plans in the early 20th century, including those at James Madison University, Mary Washington University, the University of Richmond, and Radford University. Most notably, Robinson designed much of the Old Campus section of the College of William & Mary, future parent school to Christopher Newport College. Other buildings he designed included Thomas Jefferson High School and the Mosque (now Altria Theater) in Richmond; Masonic Lodge #6 in Williamsburg; and Newport News High School, the West Avenue Library, and Huntington High School in Newport News.[4]

The new $60,000 Daniel School opened in 1914. “In appearance, it resembles an almost perfect cube of dull red brick,” glowingly reported the Daily Press, “and were it not for the ornaments of the Thirty-first and Thirty-Second street entrances the building would be without any exterior decoration.” Regardless of a simple façade, they also said it was “a structure of which the city may justly feel proud.” The three-story building had 20 classrooms (6 more than the previous building), 6 basement classrooms, 2 recitation rooms, and an auditorium located on the top floor.[5]

The building was as fireproof as they could make at the time. Anything that required combustion was located in the basement, where the walls and ceiling were made with reinforced concrete. While the majority of the upper floors were still made of wood, the stairs were made of slate and steel in an effort to protect egress from the upper levels. One side of the building also featured a fire escape.[6]

During its first few years of operation, the new Daniel School taught all grades and contained the school system’s administrative offices. In 1918, the high school classes were moved to the new Walter Reed School, leaving the Daniel School with the elementary grades and administration. The building stayed in this capacity for the next four decades. [7]

In that time, Newport News grew and thrived, even consolidating with the City of Warwick. When a federal study recommended a junior college in the area, the City of Newport News offered up the Daniel School as a temporary home & $125,000 to renovate it if the college came to be. The Virginia General Assembly took them up on their offer, establishing Christopher Newport College in 1960 as a division of the Colleges of William and Mary. The Daniel School was loaned out for five years while a permanent site nearby was acquired.[8]

The Daniel School’s last day as a grade school was Monday, October 31, 1960. Much of the staff and faculty moved to the soon-to-open Reservoir Elementary School, while students were divvied between Magruder, Wilson, Jackson, and Reed schools. The school administration moved into a building on 22nd street.[9]

Christopher Newport College found the building in rough condition. College Director (later first president) H. Westcott “Scotty” Cunningham recalled,

“It was a typical old, old school, with ceilings that looked to me to be forty feet high, and I suspect they were at least thirty feet high, huge central corridor, rooms with wooden floors, great state of disrepair, plaster hanging from the walls, lighting fixtures askew. I walked into a classroom right across the hall, and it had an old, pockmarked green blackboard in it. Scribbled across the board were in yellow chalk was, THEY OUGHT TO BURN THIS PLACE.”[10]

A less-descriptive perspective during that same period described the building as “a simple, good, and basically sound one showing signs of age, hard wear, and minimal maintenance.”[11]

When construction bids came in for the building’s proposed renovation plan, they were all way over the $125,000 budget. So Cunningham himself worked over a weekend and drew new plans for the renovation. “They were very amateurish, but they got all the things accomplished,” he admitted. Local construction company W.M. Jordan won the bid with Cunningham’s plans for around $80,000. Renovation work started in April 1961, and the building was ready for staff and faculty occupation in July.[12]

On September 18, 1961, the Daniel School's bell rang once again, this time calling for college-age students. There were 155 students enrolled and 8 full-time instructors hired for that first day of Christopher Newport College. The playground outside had been paved over for parking. Inside between the plethora of classrooms were all the other needs of a college institution. The basement came with a fully-stocked fallout shelter, a starter library, and eventually a student lounge space. The library held a meager 97 books on the first day of classes, mostly donated from William & Mary. By the end of the college’s second year, it had amassed a collection of over 4,000. On the first floor were the college’s administrative offices. In 1962, the first floor also made space for the headquarters and galleries for the newly-founded Peninsula Arts Association (later known as the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, now replaced by the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center). It most likely found space in the building due to Cunningham being on the association’s executive board. The second floor contained the schools two science labs and faculty offices. The third floor still held the ever-useful auditorium and lecture halls.[13]

Christopher Newport operated solely out of the Daniel School for 3 years. During that time, its enrollment grew, traditions began, and academic rigor was established. Also during that time, the City of Newport News was acquiring land along Shoe Lane for the permanent campus site. The first building, Christopher Newport Hall, opened in the fall of 1964. While most classes and offices moved into the new building, it had no specialized science lab space, so the Daniel school was still utilized for labs. Class scheduling that year had to take into account the travel time between the two buildings, over 7 miles apart from each other.[14]

Once the college’s science building Gosnold Hall opened in the fall of 1965, CNC returned the Daniel School to Newport News Public Schools. School administrative offices moved back into the space, giving it a minor renovation to include a telephone communication system involving switchboards. The building was described at the time as “very solid and well worth renovating.”[15]

After the current midtown administration offices opened in 1967, the school system mostly moved out of the Daniel building. They let other city departments and organizations use the building, including the Newport News Home Ownership Association and the Recreation and Parks department. Nearby Newport News High School used the building’s parking lot for faculty/staff parking.[16]

In 1969, the city offered the site as a new home to businesses that had been displaced from the city's downtown renewal project. Only one business showed any interest, which ultimately didn’t go anywhere. The Daniel School was now described as “difficult to maintain.” It was too underutilized to justify its running costs, including $5,000 a month to heat. In the end, the city decided to demolish it for off-street parking. And thus marked the end of the Daniel School. After an almost 60 year career, it was demolished in February 1973. The lot served as off-street parking until 2008, when it was redeveloped into part of a gated housing development.[17]

And that is the tale of the 1914 John W. Daniel School in Newport News, Virginia. A fireproof school that never burned, except to ignite both the birth of a college and the learning in generations of students.

Related CNC/CNU Articles

The Architectural Ages of CNU

What Remains of Christopher Newport College?

The History of the Ferguson

A Farewell to Admin [from 2013]

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[1] N.a. “FEW CHILDREN HERE NOT IN THE SCHOOLS,” Daily Press, 15 June 1910; “John W. Daniel,” Wikipedia, Retrieved April 24, 2023 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Daniel; “John W. Daniel School,” NNHS Class of 1965, Retrieved April 24, 2023, from http://www.nnhs65.com/daniel-school.html.
[2] N.a. “High School Building Prey To The Most Spectacular Fire City Has Known Since Chesapeake & Ohio Docks Burned,” Daily Press, 4 June 1913; N.a. “GAS IGNITED BY BOY CAUSED FIRE AT HIGH SCHOOL,” Daily Press, 5 June 1913.
[3] N.a “PLANS FOR NEW JOHN W. DANIEL SCHOOL APPROVED,” Daily Press, 17 September 1913; N.a. “SCHOOLS WILL OPEN AGAIN ON SEPTEMBER 8,” Daily Press, 31 August 1913; N.a. “Schools Open Sept. 8.,” Daily Press, 6 September 1913.
[4] Robinson, David B, “The Charles M. Robinson Story,” Charles M. Robinson, A Virginia Architectural History, Retrieved April 2023, from http://www.charlesmrobinson.com/history.html.
[5] N.a. “New School Building Places Newport News On The Educational Map,” Daily Press, 18 October 1914; N.a. “Detailed Cost of School,” Daily Press, 11 December 1914.
[6] N.a. “SCHOOL BUILDERS GIVEN TRUST PAYMENT,” Daily Press, 15 January 1914; N.a. “New School Building Places Newport News On The Educational Map,” Daily Press, 18 October 1914.
[7] N.a. “SCHOOLS TO OPEN MONDAY A WEEK,” Daily Press, 1 September 1918.
[8] Hamilton, Phillip, Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011, First ed., University Press, 2011.
[9] N.a. “Doors of John W. Daniel Close After 61-Year Use,” Daily Press, 1 November 1960; N.a. “Daniel School Staff Offices A Busy Place,” Daily Press, 17 November 1965.
[10] Webb, Jane Carter, “1.8 D Interview Transcript: H. Wescott (Scotty) Cunningham,” SAIL - Smart Archiving for Institutional Learning, accessed April 8, 2023, https://sail.cnu.edu/omeka/items/show/5560.
[11] Chambers, Hubbard, Wood, Memories of Christopher Newport College the First Decade 1961 – 1971 in Words and Pictures, Hallmark Publishing Company, 2008.
[12] Webb, Jane Carter, “1.8 D Interview Transcript: H. Wescott (Scotty) Cunningham,” SAIL - Smart Archiving for Institutional Learning, accessed April 8, 2023, https://sail.cnu.edu/omeka/items/show/5560; N.a. “Christopher Newport Staff Will Move Here Next Week,” Daily Press, 19 July 1961; Greiff, John B. “Business News: Car Sales Roar To 18-Month High, First Quarter Up Also,” Daily Press, 17 April 1961.
[13] N.a. “World Of Local Artists Set For College Showing,” Daily Press, 25 October 1962; N.a. “Devotees Of Art Organize Group,” Daily Press, 29 May 1962; Hamilton, Phillip, Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011, First ed., University Press, 2011.; Chambers, Hubbard, Wood, Memories of Christopher Newport College the First Decade 1961 – 1971 in Words and Pictures, Hallmark Publishing Company, 2008.
[14] N.a. “Date Tentatively Set To Dedicate Newport College,” Daily Press, 9 May 1965; Hamilton, Phillip, Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011, First ed., University Press, 2011.
[15] N.a. “Daniel School Staff Offices A Busy Place,” Daily Press, 17 November 1965.
[16] Greiff, John “City Studies Site For OEO,” Daily Press, 8 June 1968; Getchell, Halver “Daniel School Razing Starts,” Daily Press, 16 February 1973.
[17] Wilson, Madge “City To Seek Proposals On School Tract,” The Times-Herald, 27 May 1969; N.a. “Only One Letter Received On Daniel School Property,” Daily Press, 15 July 1969; Greiff, John “City Studies Site For OEO,” Daily Press, 8 June 1968; Copeland, Scott “Tax Relief Bill To Be Redrawn,” Daily Press, 28 September 1971; N.a. “Schools Head Newport News Agenda,” Daily Press, 26 October 1971; N.a. “$209,760 Bid Received On Parking Lot,” Daily Press, 13 July 1972; Getchell, Halver “Daniel School Razing Starts,” Daily Press, 16 February 1973; Satellite imagery of Downtown Newport News from various periods, Google Earth, retrieved April 2023.

The Architectural Ages of Christopher Newport University: Conclusion

(Left two images courtesy of the CNU Archives)

So, this conclusion has gone through some iterations. The main paper was trying to recognize and explain all the architectural eras Christopher Newport has gone through, so there’s parts of me that felt it didn’t need a conclusion post, that I could add a little tag at the end of Age Five and be done with it. So sometimes this didn’t exist, sometimes there was only the idea of a conclusion. What I have landed on are some thoughts on the first iteration of campus, a full review of the current campus, and then some other disparate thoughts sprinkled in.

I’m going to try to avoid the “is-it-pretty-or-not” dialogue because I feel like CNU’s architectural discussion so far has focused on only this, and all the architecture deserves more thought than that. “What’s prettier” is a simple-minded approach. It is an opinion, a perspective, a trend, and all of those things can shift. What is all the rage one day can be deemed a faux-pas the next, and vice versa. People thought the Eiffel Tower in Paris was an eyesore when it first opened. Today, you can’t imagine the city without it. So, sorry if you’re hoping I will be like “Age Seven buildings are the BEST, all the others suck!” I won’t be. I’m sure my biases will come across anyway, I can’t help that. What I hope this ultimately creates is more architectural literacy and deeper discussions on the built environment, not just at CNU, but in the world at large.



CONTEMPORARY ORIENTAL

The founders of Christopher Newport College explicitly said they wanted a unique look for the school. Forrest Coile & Associates fulfilled that assignment. CNC came from William and Mary, a very traditional-looking school. Virginia was/is full of traditional-looking schools. The major architectural style at the time of CNC’s creation was Modernism. Heck, even W&M was building their New Campus section of modernist buildings at the time. Modernism was economical, it was the look of the time, and it prioritized functional layouts.

I still haven’t found a source that explains why Forrest Colie Jr. chose to go with an Asian inspired 1960’s modern building style for a Virginian school named after a seventeenth century English captain. I can’t fathom it would connect everything together, but it would at least given me a better idea.

I find the style charming in a simple yet funky way. It’s not as exciting as, say, Googie architecture, but it indeed stands out from other designs from its era. As it names alludes to, it was a product of its day and age.

Christopher Newport Hall
Courtesy of the CNU Archives

CAMPUS TODAY

Every movement is a response or rebuttal to what came before. The Modernism architectural style and its variants ruled most of the 20th century. Towards the end of that century and into this new one, there has been a movement to return to traditional architectural forms. CNU definitely follows that movement.

CNU’s architectural transformation took many different already-proven-successful movements/ideas and combined them together into a still-winning formula. It didn’t reinvent any wheels, except for the physical makeup of the campus itself. It’s a mix between the City Beautiful movement, Jeffersonian ideals for a college, modern-day technology, and Collegiate Gothic with a Neo-Georgian twist (which I’m calling Collegiate Georgian).

That the redevelopment of campus was able to be implemented at this scale is quite a feat in this day and age. There are many examples of large collegiate architectural visions being developed in the past with consistency of look and texture – UVA’s Academical Village and W&M’s Old Campus Section come to mind – but it’s so unheard of nowadays. Many colleges have masterplans and cohesive concepts, but those can fall apart through leadership changes and/or funding fluctuations. CNU found that lightning-in-the-bottle period where it had the funding, it had the time, it had consistent leadership, and (once they started working with Glavé & Holmes) a consistent architectural partner. It is such a rarity. It’s an achievement that should be celebrated. CNU really lucked out.

I find Glavé & Holmes’ campus buildings very appealing. Functionally, they are very versatile, being able to be used for multiple purposes. Aesthetically, I’m an ornamentation guy, so I love all the details and flourishes represented. Many buildings today can be plain, flat, or glass-covered. Which is fine, but there’s an overabundance of these plain, flat, or glass-covered buildings built. I wish there was more of a balance of projects that weren’t.

Not many architectural schools today teach traditional architecture and its principles, so when modern architects are assigned specialized projects, it sort of looks like their buildings are wearing the architecture, rather than the traditional principles being imbued into the buildings. Glavé & Holmes has really invested in learning classical architecture, even hosting their own Summer Classical Academy. You can tell they took the time to make CNU’s buildings work. It’s not just throwing things together. There are so many McMansions and developer-made buildings out there, so it’s refreshing to have newer classical architecture employed at a professional caliber.

Forbes Hall entrance

THEME-PARKING

There is this strange thought that comes to mind when walking around today’s campus: Is this a real place? Campus has this quality that makes it feel like it’s a university version of a theme park. I don’t mean that as an insult by any means, I have mad respect for the work, thought, and effort that goes into creating theme parks. It’s just strange to get that at a university. But many of the techniques used in the architecture here are also used by theme parks. Theme parks and CNU are highly-stylized areas with great architectural cohesion. There are sparkles (magic!), they’re both very clean, they make architectural allusions, they romanticize the past. Utilities/pipes/etc are hidden from view, be it with hedges or fully-themed outbuildings. The scale of buildings is played with, compared to regular normal-day buildings. There are architectural transitions between lands. The buildings are very well-made, and there is thought behind them. There’s also a feeling of separation between where you are and its surrounding area, like you are in a bubble, a separate world. These are all qualities of well-themed environments, so the connection between theme parks and CNU is valid.

In some ways, CNU has really embraced this “theme-parking” aesthetic. CNU will go over-the-top with fireworks, flying hot air balloons, parachute landings during events, even famously projection-mapping onto CNH for the end of the Defining Significance Campaign. It’s definitely a unique feel that I don’t see other colleges going for.

Fireworks at the grand opening of the 2018 Trible Library Addition

CNU has become a celebration of Virginia’s greatest college hits. A timeless, lovely college campus. It’s ready to be the film location for the next great college movie. It’s funny, CNC’s first bookstore used to sell novelty items, one of the most popular being shirts saying “Harvard on the James.” In 1999, Trible remarked to The Captain’s Log that “I don’t want CNU to become ‘Harvard on the James.” I know that was taken out of context, he was commenting on his desire for CNU not to raise their SAT admission averages, but on a visual level, that’s exactly what CNU has become since then. (I hope that shirt comes back)

CNU Skyline from the Ferguson Parking Deck, 2015

LANDSCAPE

Landscaping is often an overlooked aspect of architecture. It’s easier to change, to move, to remove, etc. than to do so with a building. Yet it still is very integral to the overall experience. A building may be the main focus, but the landscaping finishes out the composition.

In Ages One and Two, buildings worked with the natural/existing plants, mainly because there wasn’t much of an option. With constrained budgets, the school was more focused on investing in good education than the landscaping, and I don’t blame them for that. If you work with what landscaping is already there, you sort of don’t have to worry about creating one from scratch. This did lead to a rugged, natural look to campus. Projects were smaller scale and/or community-driven.

Two people walking along a path at CNC.
Ratcliffe Gym is in the background.
Courtesy of the CNU Archives

Age Five is the opposite. Instead of making campus buildings fit around the landscape, the landscape was made to fit with the buildings. Nature is seen as a force that can be tamed. Trees are cut down to make way for construction, new trees are planted in new courtyards or lawns. Paths are orderly in a grid, directing people where to walk. Landscaping mainly comes from the grounds department, the main exception being the Ferguson’s Hillow Arts Garden, which was created and is maintained by volunteers.

Campus is always maintained well and looks put-together. There are always fresh plantings. Being a 2010-2015 student, a lot of the trees and shrubs were new during my time. Now that almost a decade has passed since then, much of those plants have grown in and started to fill out the area more. It’s exciting to see! 

It’s a beautiful campus.

…

… It could be more though.

CNU hasn’t had a landscaping master plan in a long while. This is kind of strange, because part of CNU’s whole transformation story is that landscaping became such an important asset to cultivate. And it did, but only to a level.

What we have now feels very piecemeal at times. There are some lovely vistas heavily landscaped with shrubs and hedges. This is mostly in areas that are bordered on all sides by buildings. But walk two minutes away, and the level of detail changes. One of the most apparent examples of the piecemeal nature can be found right on the Great Lawn. Most buildings are fronted by older-growth trees here and there, some with a few trees, others with slightly more. And then you get to Forbes, which is surrounded by all these newer crepe myrtles, uniformly surrounding the building’s perimeter.

Elsewhere on campus, there are areas that have nothing but grass. Most of Warwick River Hall is surrounded by grass. So is its next-door neighbor, the Greek Village. Along Warwick Boulevard, besides its perimeter of trees, most of it is greeted by a long strip of lawn, not used for anything. Now a quintessential American college has its lawns, but this feels like an overabundance and a lack of biodiversity.

Grass Lawn around Warwick River Hall

Grass Lawn around Warwick River Hall

A courtyard full of grass at Warwick River Hall

Grass Lawn between Warwick Boulevard and the Freeman Center

I think the first step for upgrading the landscaping is to create a campus landscaping master plan. There are many avenues to go from there:

• Could we increase the biodiversity, make campus into a lower level arboretum?
• Like celebrating the history and traditions of Virginia, could we make the landscaping a love letter to Virginia? Divide campus into five sections, representing the five distinct regions of Virginia: Tidewater, Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, Valley & Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. And then we plant native vegetation from each of those regions?
• Focus on native Tidewater-area plants only, connect campus more with the surrounding area.
• Theme park out the Georgian style into the landscaping, adding ornamental gardens and follies. I’ve always thought a wishing well for Fear2Freedom (founded by Rosemary Trible) or another local nonprofit would be a nice touch.

CNU’s landscaping has been coasting for over a decade, yet it works. However, there is a real opportunity to take CNU to the next level of beautiful if we invest further in it.

I'd like to end this section by sending a shout-out to the CNU Grounds Department for all of their hard work in making campus the lovely place it is!

Elements surrounded by flowers in spring,
featuring a working groundskeeper

HISTORY AND ITS TREATMENT

I came to CNU in the midst of its largest change. The new McMurran Hall had opened the prior semester, while the old Newport/McMurran was already gone. My first classes were in Gosnold Hall and Anderson Auditorium in the Administration Building, while my commencement was the first to take place on the steps of the new Christopher Newport Hall. Large swathes of the old campus still remained at first, and then I watched as it was erased and remade as the semesters passed by. It was chaotic, the clash of past and present, the ever-moving construction fences. Piece by piece, the new campus formed right in front of my eyes. In the midst of all of the newness, there was also this loss of what campus had been for decades. I definitely know this has given me a unique perspective on Christopher Newport University. I glimpsed both of the end of its past and the beginning of its present.

Gosnold Hall demolition at twilight, 2019

There is much to be said about the treatment of the older buildings and features of campus in recent times.

It could have been so, so, so easy for CNU to say, you know, we have outgrown these buildings, through growth in our student population, through technology, through transitioning from a commuter-to-residential campus. We have become a different college with different needs now. We thank these buildings for their decades of service, thank them for the foundation of excellence they helped create, which we now use to build CNU onwards and upwards towards further success. Cue fireworks, an old building goes out in a Las Vegas casino-style demo, Go Captains!

Instead, almost everything created prior to 1996 was looked down upon. Older buildings were hidden from view by overgrown plantings. The Ships (the three abstract memorial sculptures to original campus architect Forrest Colie Jr.) were left discarded next to the dumpster until its pieces mysteriously disappeared. Trible would call older buildings ugly in off-the-cuff remarks at events and parties, and would frequently lead his audiences to applaud the news of the demolition of another building. Paired with almost no landmarks of campus’ former buildings and layout, this has created a feeling of alienation from some older alumni, that CNU is not their school anymore, nor does CNU want them.

The Ships by the dumpsters, 2011

One piece of The Ships by the dumpsters, 2013.
The other two pieces had disappeared.
In the late 2010's, this dumpster yard was converted into parking,
and this piece of the sculpture went away with it.

I see this whole situation as incredibly shortsighted. It’s so interesting that while imbibing campus with the history and traditions of Virginia, the institution’s own history and traditions (all located and created in Virginia) were thrown out. I look at William & Mary with their Wren Building, the first building of the school, and how proud they are of its storied past, that all of these W&M generations have involved that building in some way. We sort of have that with Ratcliffe, but its covered by two wildly different additions. It looks messy, not something Captains would want to put their school pride behind.

However, this is all a moot point. What’s done has been done. The CNU of today made a climb/transformation towards being a powerhouse success, and every climb involves sacrifices. Here, the sacrifice involved the institutional history. But it could have been handled much better.

CNU has taken some steps recently to better honor the past. Dr. Sean Heuvel became the school’s first Director of Institutional History in 2021. With it, he has unearthed many important school artifacts and made sure they are preserved and honorably displayed. The Gregory P. Klich Alumni House opened in 2017, welcoming all Captains and showcasing stories from every decade of the college. Under the leadership of Senior Director M. Baxter Vendrick Jr., Alumni Relations has better interacted with older alumni, most notably collaborating with the First Decaders of CNC, led by the tireless Dr. A. Jane Chambers. There are also more signs and engravings denoting historical importance of places, including Walker’s Green. Many other individuals have also contributed to celebrating/better accessing CNU’s past: Dr. Rita Hubbard, Lawrence Barron Wood Jr., Ron Lowder Sr., Amy Boykin, Dr. Phillip Hamilton, Matthew Shelley, and Dr. Brian Puaca, to name the few I know of.

Walker's Green sign by the Alumni House

Going forward, CNU needs to continue to embrace its older history, and that needs to happen on every level of leadership. There needs to be a balance between what came before, what is here now, and what does tomorrow bring. CNU has been really great on the latter two. Now it needs to additionally respect, honor, and preserve its past.

Mr. Newport, tear down this tower.

UNSOLICITED THOUGHTS AND MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS

Architecture-wise, it’s in CNU’s best interest to continue building in the Collegiate Georgian style. It is incredibly popular, and the campus cohesion is something to be really proud of. Contemporary Oriental is not going to come back on another new building, which is why it is important to preserve what we have left of it.

I think it’s a happy accident that Age Five’s precast columns and entablatures are tan/limestone colored. The colors complement each other better in my opinion. The buildings look much warmer than if we had red next to the stark white. Red brick and white columns, everyone does it. But tan makes us just a little more unique.

Greek Village

I think there needs to be more nautical decor. We’re named after a famous sea privateer, situated right next to the Mariners’ Museum, located in a major shipbuilding city, and along one of the most important watersheds in America. We have so many connections to the water, yet campus has so few indications of it. I think that that should be played up more. Granted, there is a fine line between embracing a nautical connection and going overboard to the point of kitsch. It’s very easy to do, so I think that may be why CNU has been very subdued with this connection so far. I do think it would be okay if one location could embrace full-on nautical kitsch, while the rest can have a much calmer presentation. The Commons would be my recommendation for that job.

There should be more permanent sculptures on the grounds. More art! When are we getting a sculpture garden between the Ferguson and Torggler Centers??  


CNU has been really good at its architectural cohesion, except when it comes to renovations/additions on older, pre-Age Four buildings. On the Commons, Ratcliffe, and the Freeman Field House, there is a direct line where the Georgian stops and the older building’s style(s) appear. The Trible Library also suffered from this until it received its 2018 addition. Now, Commons I know had a full Georgian wraparound design proposed at one point, I saw the concept rendering of it (along with a lovely rain shelter over its north-east entrance). For a school highly focused on appearance and architectural cohesion, not completely reskinning these buildings seems very lazy. No one is happy with this outcome.
Then, there is the 2021 Ferguson Renovation, with a new building exit featuring a traditional precast door frame. Pray tell why this happened? This goes against everything the Ferguson is. To add this classical element to a contemporary building and nothing else to support it? It doesn’t fit. Couldn’t we have taken the glass tower off of Ratcliffe and placed it here instead? That would have been a better use of funds.

The misguided classical door frame
at the contemporary Ferguson Center for the Arts

 

I like how the names of buildings reflect things of note for Virginia. But in this era of Black Lives Matter, maybe it’s time to retire the Virginia presidents naming theme on East Campus? Of the eight men represented, seven of them owned enslaved individuals. The eighth, Woodrow Wilson, was a documented racist. I think one of the reasons there haven’t been calls to change their names is because the men are so divorced from the buildings. There is no mention of who these individuals are around the buildings (but Washington, Jefferson, and Madison are pretty easy to guess who they are). Could we name these halls after other significant individuals born in Virginia? Could they be named after mountains? The geographical regions? Or, what a great nod would it be to reuse the names of the original captains of the Jamestown settlement?


I’ve been ruminating on a thought. Georgian architecture was built onto the school with the intent of celebrating the history and traditions of Virginia. If the Georgian buildings were built in the Virginian architectural era it portrays, it definitely would have been built using the labor of enslaved people. That’s true for many older institutions in Virginia. But CNU is able to divorce the style away from this context by building it today. Is this romanticizing the past but not fully conveying the history of that past? Is this sort of like antebellum parties?


I write all of this with the utmost love for my alma mater. However, love is never impervious to giving critiques. My intention is by sharing these thoughts, I hope CNU can grow and become a better institution. I also write this with full knowledge that some of the ideas I am bringing up can be “blue sky,” that don’t have financial or logistical constraints factored in. But where would this campus be without dreams?

Looking up in the Torggler Center dome
featuring the artwork Shylight

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Sarah Pultz ('15) for bouncing ideas off of, Daniel Ericson-Teal for reviewing, and M. Baxter Vendrick, Jr. for guidance (even when I choose to not follow it).

Thank you to Bill Brauer, Randy Holmes, Michelle Campbell, and Tom Donaghy for answering all of my questions over the years.

So much of my knowledge of the current campus came from the “See the Dome: Exclusive Campus Tour of Christopher Newport University” back in 2018. It was led by Glavé & Holmes Architecture and hosted by the Center for Palladian Studies in America and the Washington Mid Atlantic Chapter of the Institute for Classical Art and Architecture. That was an incredible experience for my specific geeky niche. Thanks also to Clarke Newton for encouraging me to drop everything and go to it. Granted, it didn’t take much encouragement, but thank you nonetheless!

Thank you to Forrest Colie & Associates and Glavé & Holmes Architecture for designing beautiful buildings for Christopher Newport, and to W.M. Jordan Construction Company who built most of them.

SOURCES

- Holmes Jr, H. Randolph & Taylor, Henrika Dyck, Elevating the Human Spirit: The Architecture of Glavé & Holmes, 2019.
- Email Correspondences with William Brauer, H. Randy Holmes, and the CNU Grounds Department.

- Holmes, H. Randolph, See the Dome: Exclusive Campus Tour of Christopher Newport University, 2 June 2018 [lecture and campus tour].
- Chambers, Hubbard, Wood, Memories of Christopher Newport College the First Decade 1961 – 1971 in Words and Pictures, Hallmark Publishing Company, 2008.

Peering through the McMurran cross-through

The Architectural Ages of CNU Series

Introduction

Age One (1964 - 1976)

Age Two (1976 - 1996)

Age Three (1996 - 2001)

Age Four (2002 - 2009) 

Age Five (2010 - Present)

Conclusion

Related CNC/CNU Articles

The History of the Ferguson

What Remains of Christopher Newport College?

The Daniel School

Creating CNU's LEGO Alumni House