Demolition has started at Ryan Field, the Tribune has photos showing some piles of debris.
Hopefully they will not demolish the bricks around the Wildcat statue near the south end zone…l
Hard to tell for sure from the picture in the Tribune, but it looks like the statue itself has been wrapped to protect it and the bricks themselves may have been removed already.
As someone who has 2 bricks near the statue (one in my name, the other in my alum daughter’s name), I was interested in knowing the university’s plans. I was hoping they’d be transferred to the new stadium, but I have been advised that NU is planning to dig them up and then send them back to the donors. Like, really, what are my daughter and I really supposed to then do with them?!
Jim B.
We have a brick also.
A better solution might be to drive by my house and just chuck it through the window 
If they were feeling generous they could wrap a thank you note around it.
They could also offer to “replant” the bricks in whatever will be the new “Champions Plaza”, for a fee, of course.
Sending the bricks back seems a bit rude…
Not to mention expensive.
I agree with both comments about being expensive and rude
When were these bricks put in? Surely some donors are no longer with us NU probably knows about alums that have passed but what about non alumni supporters ? NU sends them back to the original donor and gets a return with a “no forwarding address “.
I m putting down a very tough season for us this year ; maybe not a bad time to be playing in non home stadium any way ( We are playing Michigan and Washington on the road and the Bucks at home—yikes)
Harry
Harry
I think we will over perform as usual. (Famous last words.)
If — if — we have a quarterback.
Braun is the real deal.
Michigan will be, by their standards, down. Washington is in transition.
The bricks were put in during the last stadium refurbishment, when Dyche became Ryan Field, IIRC 1997. They were part of the campaign to upgrade Dyche.
That’s when the project began. I bought my brick about five years later, then I bought my daughter’s brick when she graduated in 2009.
Jim B.
Well, remember that Northwestern promised the Dyche family that the stadium would be called Dyche Stadium forever.
Should we expect a ‘have your brick installed in the new stadium’ campaign?
Mike
This was in the 20’s?
Harry
| nolan List Manager
February 17 |
- | - |
Well, remember that Northwestern promised the Dyche family that the stadium would be called Dyche Stadium forever.
Should we expect a ‘have your brick installed in the new stadium’ campaign?
They’re going “Pink Floyd”, and classifying them as “Another Brick in the Wall”.
Yeah, I think so. But naming rights weren’t a multi-million dollar bonanza 100 years ago.
See Chicago Tribune 1997 story on this subject, titled:
FOR DYCHE CLAN, PERPETUITY DIDN’T LAST LONG
https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/09/18/for-dyche-clan-perpetuity-didnt-last-long/
I walk by the stadium often on the way to basketball games and just because I live in the neighborhood. Over the past month or so, I had noticed what looked like pallets of pavers outside the southwest corner of the stadium. I thought it was odd that what looked like building materials were being delivered before demolition even began. So now I’m thinking perhaps those were the pavers that were being removed from the plaza behind the south endzone. It’s a little strange they wouldn’t just keep those and use them for one of the new plazas that will be part of the new stadium design. I guess the donations for those pavers were to help fund the old stadium, so now that the old stadium is coming down, you get your brick back. You can put it on your mantel.
The NFP I used to work for had a brick campaign when they built their building in 2005. Last year they moved to another city. They were told that the process of removing the bricks, storing them and trying to re-lay them somewhere else would damage many of them. (They’re in a downtown St. Louis office building now, so there’s no place for a brick plaza, anyway.)
I’m sure a lot of the donors of the bricks have passed away. NU probably knows alums who have passed but I’m not sure they would be in a position to have good records of those non alums who donated ( eg local fans ). Could be a bit of a postal snafu for those who are no longer with us or perhaps those who moved to elder care facilities unbeknownst to the university
Harry
If they do intent to send the bricks back, I suspect they’ll send a letter first to make sure the address is still good.