Hisaka's CSU Student Center Photo Update

I have been meaning to get out to the Cleveland State University campus and watch the painful demolition of Don Hisaka's 1974 student center. I was never one who was sold that the student center was a weak demarcation of the entrance to the campus, mostly because as a commuter school a proper entrance seemed unrealistic to expect. Now that CSU is moving to create more on site residence halls I can see the argument for necessitating a "proper entrance" however I fail to see why the student center needs to mark that entry or why, with such a strong entry face, it didn't mark it enough.

I also have to wonder why a school with a seemingly decent engineering division didn't retrofit the existing structure or choose a designer who dealt with structures that expressed engineering intellect. Granted some may not enjoy the Hisaka building and even call it brutalist due to the raw concrete and expressed structure and materiality but I would think that very foundation could create a proving ground for one of Cleveland State's hallmark divisions to undertake and exploit. These are the sort of lost opportunities that sadden me. These are the chances that institutions have to set themselves apart.

Regardless of the semantics of what new urbanism is required to "front the campus upon Euclid" or "organize a proper main street" the tentative kid gloved nature that has resulted in this demolition work, and the proposed befuddlement of style could be construed as misguided at best and insulting at worst. If Euclid is to be the new Cleveland "main street", then the front door of our institutions should do their best to intrigue as well as welcome. Otherwise, who is going to come knocking?

more resources:
Action shots by Improvising Schema
Puff pieces do nothing to increase the quality of work expected
Ramsey Architectural Group