I’ve been doing this for so long that sometimes it feels like I’ve seen it all before. Sometimes it’s because I have.
Going to lunch at Cohen House today there was this:
When I got back to the Woodson it took about three minutes to dig this one up. It looks to be the initial installation of the paved plaza area and I don’t have a date for it:
Up until this point there was only a small sidewalk that led away from the bottom of the steps towards the loop road. You can just see it here if you zoom in on this shot from January of 1966:
In any event, it seems like they’re messing with the paved area every couple of years so maybe we should just go back to the old set up. (Surely my advice is always welcome!)
Bonus:
During my time at Rice (1976-1982) almost all construction activity was redoing the sidewalks. Everywhere. The edges of them deteriorated, so they would tear them up, pour new ones and put the pea gravel on top. I loved watching them do it – float the pea gravel below the surface and then remove enough of the cement to leave an embedded gravel surface.