UNC Charlotte’s Belk Tower dismantled

Perhaps it is a fitting end for UNC Charlotte’s Belk Tower. The campus monument that towered above a site for free speech and solidarity has sparked a rally on its own behalf as it’s being torn down.

The sense of loss was heavy for many as crews began dismantling the aging 142-foot tower at one of the oldest areas on UNCC’s campus. For 45 years the white, ribbed concrete mass has been a landmark and some say a symbol of much more.

“It means something,” Kristen Reynolds of Charlotte wrote on an online petition protesting the demolition. “It’s more than just brick and rock and something that chimes the time. It’s a space where students can come together in representation of UNC Charlotte’s spirit and culture and in support of each other.”

Nearly 3,500 people said in an October survey that they would pay $10 to $49 for a piece of the rubble. Chancellor Philip Dubois and the Alumni Affairs Office are working on the details.​ ​

Deterioration ultimately made the tower unsafe, Dubois has said. The crown, similar in style to a quill pen, came down Tuesday. The remains are set to disappear before students return Monday.

Removal of the tower gives the UNCC community – administrators, students, faculty, alums and admirers – a chance to come together again at this spot to plan a new focus for the roughly 1-acre space, said Peter Franz, university landscape architect who will chair the Belk Plaza Design Committee.

LandDesign has been hired to make recommendations for redesigning the quadrangle in the campus’ original core. The chancellor and the UNCC Board of Trustees hope to approve a plan by mid year.

Dubois also appointed a 14-member committee from the campus and community to offer input. LandDesign will host three forums for gathering and ideas. A Web page is set to launch in a week or so that will include dates, Franz said.

“It’s an opportunity to create something that can be more active for the campus community, a destination of some kind,” Franz said. “We want to have spaces where they can meet, gather and relax so the environment is as positive as possible.”

The budget for the project will be determined during a concept design study based on features, university spokeswoman Buffie Stephens said in an email on Wednesday.

The new design will need to consider that the campus is more urban and densely developed now, Franz said.

“We only have so much space,” Franz said. “We have to maximize the pockets that we have.”

There is an interest in preserving the top of the tower and the carillon. Planners will be looking for a location that would be appropriate, Franz said.

The tower was originally a symbol of a young and growing university, which began to sprout 10 miles from uptown Charlotte in 1961. The tower was dedicated to department store executive Irwin Belk and his three brothers – John, Thomas and Henderson. They donated the money to create a central quad.

Dubois announced plans to demolish the tower in October. The university and outside consulting engineers found the structure to be so deteriorated that it posed a safety risk.

For alums who left before the newest buildings cropped up, the tower is still an icon, even though it’s location is no longer central to most of the campus’ activity. An online petition to save the tower brought 870 signatures.

“More than just a carillon, Belk Tower is a symbol of our commitment to opportunity, openness and outspokenness,” Erin Karriker of Washington, D.C., wrote at change.org.

Dubois’ estimate of $1 million to repair and renovate the tower likely would have been less expensive than the cost to redevelop the plaza, said Stanton Adams of Charlotte, who attended classes there from 1999-2005.

He learned about plans to take down the tower in an email in October.

“I was stunned,” Adams told the Observer. “When I saw the tower had deteriorated, I thought, ‘How did it get to that point?’ It’s pretty hard to ignore. It’s the biggest thing on campus.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 2:38 PM with the headline "UNC Charlotte’s Belk Tower dismantled."