10 Broadcaster Press January 10, 2012 www.broadcasteronline.com There goes the neighborhood Cypress Court, Redwood Court fall to wrecking crew By David Lias david.lias@plaintalk.net A couple of modest brick buildings that for decades provided cheap and cozy housing to married students at the University of South Dakota have fallen to a wrecking ball. Or, to be more accurate, large backhoes, bulldozers and trucks that have been busily hauling away what’s left of Cypress Court and Redwood Court. The two buildings on USD’s campus, located on Pine Street, have been easy to miss in recent years, even though they are located only about a block south of Cherry Street, which carries the brunt of Vermillion’s traffic. A tall stand of evergreen trees along the housing units’ north edge obscured the buildings. According to a description of a photo of one of the Cypress Court apartments, on file in the Digital Library of South Dakota web page, Cypress Court was constructed in 1958. “The University of South Dakota received a substantial loan to build Cypress Court and an addition to Julian Hall,” according to the photo description. “Cypress Court consisted of 40 small apartments and was inhabited by married students. Redwood Court joined the neighborhood two years later.” Cypress and Redwood Courts were also featured prominently on a page of the 1967 “Coyote,” USD’s yearbook. Among several photos of the buildings’ exteriors and a young university family enjoying the simple comforts provided by the small apartments are pictures of the local families that managed the buildings at the time – Marvin Van Kekerix and his wife, Gloria, managed Cypress Court. Dick Worman and his wife, Mary, managed Redwood Court. According to the yearbook, “The married students of USD enjoy the comfort and convenience of Cypress and Redwood Courts. Each provides 40 modern efficiency apartments available to the married student and his wife.” Leading to the buildings’ demise is the small size of each apartment, the changes over the years in housing needs and tastes of married USD students with young families, and the recent construction of Coyote Village on the northern edge of campus near the DakotaDome. The fate of the two buildings was sealed in the spring of May 2009 during a South Dakota Board of Regents meeting on the USD campus. At that meeting, the Regents authorized university officials to go ahead with its plans to construct Coyote Village. “It (Coyote Village) will allow us to raze Cypress (Court) and Redwood Court,” Richard Van Den Hul, who served as USD’s vice president of finance and administration at the time, told the Regents. It will also give the university the option to transform some double-occupancy rooms in existing dorms to single-occupancy.” “The demolition of the buildings is part of a housing revitalization plan,” Phil Carter, USD’s manager of media relations, said Tuesday. “A couple years ago, when the administration went before the Board of Regents to discuss the possibly of Coyote Village … they laid out a plan to renovate some of the existing residence halls on campus as well as clear Redwood Court and Cypress Court. So, we’re in the second phase of that project.” Carter said Tuesday that he didn’t know for certain what use the university has in mind for the space that will be created on campus once the rubble of the two demolished buildings is removed. “I do think that it falls in line with that housing plan,” he said. “It perhaps may be looked at as a place to put another residence hall. I think it’s also being reviewed as possibly parking or possibly space for something else, such as another project on campus, another building. I’m not 100 percent sure, but MAIN PHOTO: Workers use large backhoes and bulldozers to reduce Cypress Court and Redwood Court on the University of South Dakota campus to rubble last week. The two buildings were constructed over 50 years ago to serve as housing for married students. (Photo by David Lias) ABOVE PHOTO: Cypress Court and Redwood Court each featured 40 small, modest apartments, as shown in this photo taken shortly after Cypress Court was constructed in 1958. The two buildings served the housing needs of married students as recently as 2008. (Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, USD) taking the buildings off line and demolishing obviously opens up a good chunk of real estate on campus.” Carter said the two buildings have been “off line,” in other words, not used on a regular basis by the university, for approximately the last two years. “At one point, they were being used for staging by the Vermillion Police Department, event the state (Highway) Patrol, and of course University Police here to conduct scenarios for training,” he said. “Even though they were off line, they certainly weren’t empty and they were being utilized as a benefit to law enforcement.” Before the demolition began, workers combed through the buildings, removing windows, metal and other materials that could be recycled or sold. The same process continued as the walls were torn down, as it appears workers used their heavy equipment to sort pipe and metal into piles that eventually were hauled away in large trucks. “It’s all about sustainability,” Carter said. “If you can re-use the materials, the better.” Less than four years ago, Cypress Court and Redwood Court were still fulfilling their original role as housing for married USD students. The Volante, USD’s student newspaper, featured the lifestyles of couples living in the apartments in October 2008. Jacquelin Boyle, a USD senior at ? COURTS, Page 11 su|do|ku © 2008 KrazyDad.com Fill the puzzle so that every row, every column, and every section contain the numbers 1-9 without repeating a number 9 8 6 5 1 1 2 4 7 4 3 6 9 7 5 2 7 2 6 6 8 5 4 Check today’s issue for the solution to the puzzle. 1 INT Book 28 #3