St Anthony Association of North Carolina

Folks, there hasn’t been much time to write on the blog since Swingout. There’s an issue of  Tony’s Tattler to be produced; mentor program information to upload;  and I find myself sadly behind on various volunteer duties for the Hall.

Fear not, however: I am also working on a potential SAANC benefit members-only mailing that will ROCK your HISTORICAL SOCKS off. This will also be lots of fun to produce  – and read! If you are signed up as a SAANC member anytime before August 1, 2010, you will get this as an exclusive member benefit (though non-members will be welcome to purchase individual issues).

At any rate. One of the fun benefits of having done a lot of poking around in various archives is coming across writings like this: 1962 Funny Minutes. I would like to have it noted that the Annex bathroom floor – the Annex which was only built and completed a year prior – is already being referred to as a garbage pit.

Silt fence is in place to prevent erosion (right)

And so, the regrading and reseeding of the backyard is complete. (Thanks to Michael W. for the pics.) Apparently it has been raining nearly every day in Chapel Hill since this was completed (July 23rd). This can be a good thing (no need to rely on residents to have to remember to water) or a bad thing (raining so much that the seed washes away). Hopefully, the washing away will be deterred by the layer of straw on top of the ground. In the category of “one thing gets fixed, another thing gets broken” is the chain link fence on the SPE parking lot side of the property. It had been taken down to be used as an access point during the demolition, and then again during the regrading and is now, essentially, unusable in its current state.

(More pictures under the cut.)

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The onset of drier weather is being awaited – in order to remove the remainder of the bamboo as well as regrade and reseed the AnnexSpot.

There’s still lots of work to be done but progress is made on removing/destroying the bamboo in the backyard.

Next steps involve finishing the removal (in the back left-hand corner) &  getting rid of the pile of bamboo currently there (which the contractor, Jim Riley of New Growth Landscapes, will be doing within the week). Then, there will need to be some regrading of the land plus reseeding of the yard to function as an actual place to hang out. Who knows, maybe some flag football is in the offing?

Pictures are thanks to Amy Olsen! Thanks!

I’ve made a link to this Unofficial Blog from the Official SAANC website – now that there’s enough content to entertain people for more than 5 minutes (I hope!), I feel better about pointing people in this direction.

In other news, progress is being made on the final component of the Annex demolition: grass seed and straw on the spot where the Annex once stood. We must complete this according to our Town of Chapel Hill permit. Fortunately, there are some active members with strong backs and enthusiasm so this should be completed before UNC closes for Fall Break.

Click on the picture to go to a small gallery of the Annex demolition, which is taking place this week. Comments ranging from “it’s a shock to see it gone” to “I got a little misty-eyed” have been heard over on the monks email list. If you’re interested in participating in the discussion, comment on this post and I’ll add you to the email list.

Fiona Matthews X’08 writes:

Hey everyone! The annex is completely down, all is left is a little pile of rubble. It’s amazing! They are clearing out the debris and I am pretty sure working on taking down the shed. Eric Mills got some video of the destruction, and we’ve both been out there taking tons of pictures. They should be up on the internet tonight and tomorrow!

So much anticipation for so little active destruction. Links from here to the pictures (and video!) will be made available as they happen.

As excited as everyone is about getting the Annex demolished, it will be approximately another two weeks before the permits are approved by the Town of Chapel Hill. However, as evidenced by previous posts, there will be plenty of documentation of the event itself. It’s been this long – what’s another two weeks? (I am saying this with a cynical sigh to my voice.)

Just a quick note to link to two brothers’ documentary efforts regarding the Annex’s demolition:

• Brother Adam Graetz (Xi ’06) has a photo blog of the demolition including a really neat HDR image from SwingOut 2008.
• Brother Matt Thomas (Xi ’05) has an AnnexCam up on the back porch.

How did anyone ever communicate before the Internet, anyway?

Many, many thanks to those who were able to help with the preparation and execution of the Annex Demolition Party this past Saturday, August 2nd. Throughout the course of the evening, over 70 people came to witness the final goodbye to the Annex, which is slated for demolition this week (Aug 4-6). The first sledgehammer swing was auctioned for $850, and subsequent swings plus other attendee support came to a total of $1570.

Lots of reminiscing about the Annex took place. Greg Blackwell X’85 says he lived in 6 of the Annex rooms at one point or another. Most of the people who took swings at the Annex did it on their old rooms.

The demolition that will take place this week symbolises, to me, the opening of new possibilities for the Hall in terms of its membership, residents and future support of the organisation. There was so much goodwill generated from the event that I can only hope it propels SAANC forward and re-ignites interest among alumni.