Golden Nuggets: Piedmont Avenue to Benefit from Memorial Stadium Renovation

While the focus of the Memorial Stadium renovation project is on the stadium and the SAHPC, Piedmont Avenue will also benefit.  From a new black granite curb to the restoration of its original Rhyolite curb, Piedmont will undergo a much-needed face lift.

Just as the stadium rebuild is working to preserve the outer wall that makes it distinct, the overhaul of Piedmont Avenue also incorporates the restoration of its own historic wall, one that has been missing since the original construction of Memorial Stadium in 1923.

"When they built the road, they built this stone wall on the uphill side that was removed when the stadium was built," said Jim Horner, the Campus Landscape Architect for UC Berkeley. "We call that the rhyolite wall. That wall is pretty evident throughout North Berkeley. They were also around the site where we built the Residential and Student Services office building 10 years ago. We salvaged those stones and have been holding them in storage for 10 years, waiting for this moment."

That moment is finally here. The stones represent 150 years of Berkeley history, not just University history, and their use can be traced back to the de facto father of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted, who, among other sites, designed Central Park in New York. The restoration of the rhyolite wall is actually part of a larger scale historical reclamation of sorts that may not be apparent the average observer. 

"One of the guiding principles in the design was to recognize that [Berkeley] was a rustic area," Horner revealed. "The contemporary architects took it as a principal that the farther away from the stadium you got, the rougher everything would be."

When fans walk up to the stadium in 2012, they'll see this process in reverse, from rough and rustic to regal and refined. 

After the jump Ted Miller pumps the sunshine, the MLB Draft selects seven Bears, and pitcher Justin Jones talks about some of his unusual quirks.

Football

• John Henderson of the Denver Post recently toured the new facilities and was quite impressed.
• Zach Kline earned a spot (60th) on ESPN's list of the top 150 recruits for 2012.
• The Pony Express award, honoring the nations top tandems of two or three, chose several duos (and a couple trios) from the Pac-12 to be on its "Watch List."  Ted Miller says Sean Cattouse and Mychal Kendricks might have made a good pair on that list.  The Zach Maynard-Keenan Allen duo might also be deserving of a spot on the list.
• Ted Miller is pumping the sunshine again as he looks at Cal's strengths this season.  Poor Ted, he just can't quit the Bears.
• ESPN released its list of 10 elevator coaches, who have taken their programs from the basement into the limelight.  During any other offseason Tedford probably would have earned a spot on that list, but he is absent.