Back at the end of 2023, I mentioned that my favorite quiet thinking spot from my days at the University of Cincinnati, a small enclosed courtyard that I always called “the Alcove” because I didn’t know the correct term for it at the time, had been torn down as part of the demolition and replacement of the deteriorating 1930s extension of the 1917 Old Chemistry building. This morning, I went for a long walk and wandered over to that part of campus for the first time in a while, and I discovered that the new Old Chemistry building (it’s still called that) was complete. So I wandered around its outside and inside for a few minutes, getting a sense of the place, which seems typical of the modern interiors of the newer campus buildings in the perpetually “Under Construction” UC. Even the interior of the original Old Chemistry building has been fully remodeled, though the exterior is basically the same.

When I came out into the plaza that had overlooked my courtyard, there was just the side of the new building filling up the space where it had been. I went back inside to find out what was occupying the Alcove/courtyard’s footprint and see if I could at least stand where it had been, but there’s a large room labeled “Engineering Lab” where it was. But there is a small study lounge one floor above it, so I guess that carries forward the spirit of the Alcove in a way.

Meanwhile, I see they’ve closed off the area around Crosley Tower for its impending demolition, which is slated to begin in January. Apparently many consider it an eyesore, and it’s sinking or tilting or something due to foundation problems, but I’ve always found it quite striking, and the concrete plaza skirting it was another favorite study/thinking spot for me over the years. It’s been a dominating part of the campus skyline all my life (it was built in 1967, about a year before I was born, though some sources incorrectly say ’69), and it will be strange and sad to see it gone.