The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/743343
140 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER M ore than seven years ago, former NC State athletics director Lee Fowler asked for some help to reorganize and cata- log some of the things former senior as- sociate athletics director Frank Weedon had stowed away in his office, in nooks and cran- nies around the Weisiger-Brown athletics offices and in the many closets he claimed as his own in Reynolds Coliseum. It was a treasure trove of NC State memo- rabilia that included everything from a hand- ful of programs from the first ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, which was held at Reynolds in 1954, to Roman Gabriel's game- worn jersey, which was lying loose in the drawer of one of Weedon's file cabinets, crammed in between Kenny Carr's Olympic jersey and a flag that once flew over the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Weedon saved everything, though he rarely knew how to put his hands on any- thing in a timely fashion. For some of us, it was endearing. For some, it was frustrating to have all that clutter just taking up space. There was a scare in the spring of 2005, when a transformer outside of Reynolds blew out and burned through two ROTC classrooms on the east side. The fire was contained, thank- fully, but it could have wiped out much of the saved history of Wolfpack athletics. As Weedon's health began to decline and his trips to his office became more infre- quent, Fowler wanted to make sure the stuff that should be saved was put away and the stuff that could be discarded was thrown out. The problem was, there was no place to put anything and no plans to do anything with it. After weeks of rummaging through Weedon's office, it was pretty easy to identify the things that should be shared with the pub- lic. Some of them — like the old noise meter, the wolf head golf cart, the Longines clock that hung in Reynolds' north end zone — were too big for storage. Some of it — years of media guides, game programs, pieces of paper — were only good for historical research. And some of it, to be honest, was just junk. The usual question Weedon often had to answer about saving all of this was, "Why?" "Because it was important," Weedon said before he died in 2014. "Sometimes, when new coaches come in, they want to get rid of anything that has to do with previous coaches. But all of that stuff is our history." When Debbie Yow was hired to replace Fowler in 2010, she had a bigger vision, one that included an athletics hall of fame and a total renovation of the coliseum whose floor was named after her sister, legendary women's basketball coach Kay Yow. She asked a lot of people to get to work to make it happen. It started with the inaugural 10-member class of the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. It continued when plans were formalized between the athletics department and the university for a $35 million renovation plan to save "The House that Case Built." Deputy athletics director for internal op- erations Michael Lipitz was eventually put in charge of overseeing the project. Cameron Smith and Bill Davis, of the university's capi- tal projects management department, were as- signed the responsibility of getting it done with all necessary university and state compliance. Danis Construction LLC won the construction bid, and HealeyKohler Design of Maryland handled the Walk of Fame and History. NC State College of Design graduate Em- ily Furman, creative director at HealyKohler, designed the display cases that make up the bulk of the Walk of Fame and History. Assistant athletics director Georgia Brown collected and stored the artifacts in a couple of different storage units, with help from Josh Dalton. Many supporters, alumni and former athletes donated some 1,100 artifacts that helped tell the story of Wolfpack athletics. There were committees made up of in- ternal and external representatives that han- dled the design and the content through- out Reynolds, including Andy Cruickshank of Corley Redfoot Architects, Terry Healy of HealyKohler and, from NC State, Brett Compton, Fred Demarest, James Greenwell, Jim Sherrill, Chris Boyer, Annabelle Myers and Ray Brincefield. Each added a unique perspective on pre- serving NC State's history. How'd it turn out? The feedback at the sold-out grand re-opening was positive. Sim- ilar reactions came from the 6,000 or so stu- dents and visitors who attended a campaign rally in Reynolds featuring First Lady Mi- chelle Obama. Former four-time North Caro- lina Governor Jim Hunt wondered where his old upper balcony seats were and was eager for a tour of the new facilities. Personally, I wanted to hear from some of the people who made history at Reynolds to make sure their accomplishments were properly honored. It was nice that so many of the 36 members of the NC State Hall of Fame were on hand for the official unveiling and had the chance to see it first. I also had the chance to give a couple of important figures that couldn't go to the gala a private preview. Former NC State ten- nis player Irwin Holmes, the first African- American athlete in ACC history, donated his original letterman's sweater to the Walk of Fame. Men's tennis coach Jon Choboy and his team thanked him by giving him a new letterman's jacket and some NC State tennis gear. He spent an afternoon with the team back in August and talked with them about his triumphs and troubles while inte- grating collegiate athletics in North Carolina. After the unveiling of the Coaches Corner statues of Everett Case, Norm Sloan, Jim Valvano and Kay Yow, I bumped into C.A. Dillon, the longtime voice of Reynolds Coli- seum. If there is anything that reminds older Wolfpack fans of Reynolds, it is Dillon's sig- nature introduction: "Good evening and wel- come to William Neal Reynolds Coliseum. Tonight NC State is pleased to welcome as its guest …" Dillon, like Holmes, is now in a wheel- chair, so going to the crowded gala was a little out of the question. Going through the displays, I just had to ask Dillon, who was hand-picked by Case in 1946 to be the announcer for Red Terror/Wolfpack home games, what Case would have thought of the new Reynolds. "He would be very excited," Dillon said. "It is the showplace he wanted it to be." ■ ■ PACK PERSPECTIVE A Fitting Home For Wolfpack History Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker. You may contact him at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. The Wolfpacker is a publication of: Coman Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Offices are located at 905 West Main St., Ste. 24F, Durham, N.C. 27701. (919) 688-0218. The Wolfpacker (ISSN 0273-8945) is published bimonthly. A subscription is $39.95 for six issues. For advertising or subscription information, call (800) 421-7751 or write The Wolfpacker. Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Wolfpacker, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, N.C. 27702. Periodical mail postage paid at Durham, N.C. 27702 and additional offices. First-class postage is $14 extra per year. E-mail: thewolfpacker@comanpub.com • Web site: www.thewolfpacker.com More than 1,100 artifacts were donated to help tell the story of NC State athletics. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN