Difference between revisions of "Hokie Stone"

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'''Hokie Stone''' is a dolomite limestone named for the [[Hokie]] mascot. This stone is the primary finishing material on campus buildings. Hokie Stone was originally normal limestone, but under intense pressure and temperature, was infused with magnesium and water to alter its chemical composition. The color of Hokie Stone on campus varies due to its actual rock content.  On older buildings at Virginia Tech, such as [[Holden Hall]], the Hokie Stone is completely gray, a characteristic of pure Hokie Stone. Newer Hokie Stone is a multitude of colors due to impurities; it contains siltstone and sandstone, as well.
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[[Image:Norris hall.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Norris Hall with Hokie Stone façade]]
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'''Hokie Stone''' is a grey [[dolomite]] [[limestone]] named for the [[Virginia Tech Hokies|Hokie]] [[HokieBird|mascot]] of [[Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University|Virginia Tech]] where the stone is the primary finishing material on campus buildings. Hokie Stone is limestone infused with magnesium and calcium under intense pressure and temperature. Formation of the stone began 450 million years ago when the local area was covered by a shallow sea.<ref name="rtmoxley"/> Hokie Stone with impurities such as siltstone and sandstone is multi-colored and found on some newer Blacksburg campus structures.<ref name="rtmoxley">{{cite news|url=http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/301442|title=Upgraded Hokie Stone Quarry Rolls Out More Rock|last= Moxley|first=Tonia |date=November 22, 2011|accessdate=February 3, 2012|newspaper=Roanoke Times}}</ref>
  
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80% of the stone is quarried from a 40 acre University owned quarry a few miles from campus. 25-30 Virginia Tech employees use black powder each day to dislodge the stone into block sizes required by campus construction projects and finish the blocks by hand using hammers and chisels. The remaining 20% of stone is mined once per year from an additional quarry located on a local farm. The university-owned quarry has been in operation since the 1950's.<ref name="bsm">http://www.buildingstonemagazine.com/summer-06/hokiestone.html</ref><ref>http://www.vt.edu/about/hokie-stone.pdf</ref>
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Eighty percent of the stone is quarried from a {{convert|40|acre|m2|sing=on}} Virginia Tech-owned quarry a few miles from campus near the Highland Park subdivision of [[Blacksburg, Virginia]].<ref name="rtmoxley"/>  Twenty-five to thirty Virginia Tech employees use black powder each day to dislodge the stone, cut it into block sizes required by campus construction projects and then finish the blocks by hand using hammers and chisels. In 2010 Virginia Tech upgraded the quarry equipment to reduce costs, including the purchase of a computer-driven saw.<ref name="rtmoxley"/> Hokie Stone from this quarry can only be sold to Virginia Tech.<ref name="rtmoxley"/> The remaining 10% of stone, which is black, is mined once per year from an additional quarry located on a local farm near Lusters Gate. About 50 tons can be quarried each week.<ref name="rtmoxley"/>  The university-owned quarry has been in operation since the 1950s.<ref name="bsm">{{cite news|url=http://www.buildingstoneinstitute.org./images/mag_files/2006_bsi_summer.pdf|title=A Hokie Stone by Any Other Name is not Hokie Stone|last= Paper|first=Jodi |date=Summer 2006|accessdate=February 3, 2012|publisher=''Building Stone Magazine''}}</ref><ref name="vturpdf">{{cite web|url=http://www.vt.edu/about/hokie-stone.pdf |format=pdf|title=Virginia Tech's Stone of Tradition|publisher=Virginia Tech, University Relations|date=2011|accessdate=February 3, 2012}}</ref>
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
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When the university was founded in 1872, buildings were simple brick constructions, reflecting the architecture of [[Blacksburg]] at that time. In 1901 the YMCA Building (now the [[Performing Arts Building]]) was the first to be constructed of Hokie Stone, in 1971 [[McBryde Hall]] introduced the Hokie Stone clad neo-gothic style which became the official architecture of the campus.  During the 60's and 70's, concrete and brick structures absent of Hokie Stone such as [[Dietrick Hall]] and [[Cassell Coliseum]] were built. In 1983 the Virginia Tech [[Board of Visitors]] required that some Hokie Stone be incorporated into the construction of every new building on campus.<ref name="rt">http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story168531.html</ref> Today each campus project uses an average of 1,500 tons of Hokie Stone, with each ton of stone covering only 30-35 square feet.<ref name="bsm" /><ref name="rt" />
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[[File:Hokie Stone Quarry Blacksburg.JPG|thumb|right|The main quarry in Blacksburg. This is the south slope]]
  
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In additional to building exteriors, Hokie Stone is used in important monuments such as biographical markers outside each campus building providing a brief history of the person for whom the building is named. Thirty-two Hokie Stones were quarried by university stonemasons and engraved with the names of students and professors killed in the [[April 16 shootings]].<ref name="post">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901018.html</ref> The Virginia Tech football team enters the playing field through a tunnel with an exit topped by a block of Hokie Stone which is touched by each player.<ref name="nyt">http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/sports/ncaafootball/04tech.html?fta=y</ref>
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When the university was founded in 1872, buildings were simple brick constructions, reflecting the architecture of Blacksburg at that time.  The first Hokie Stone was cut in 1899 for the YMCA Building (now the Performing Arts Building), the first to be constructed of Hokie Stone. In 1914, the first McBryde Hall introduced the Hokie Stone-clad [[neo-Gothic]] style (similar to great European universities) which became the official architecture of the campus.<ref name="vturpdf"/> The native woodland Indians are believed to have made tools from Hokie Stone.<ref name="rtmoxley"/> During the 1960s and 1970s, concrete and brick structures absent of Hokie Stone such as Dietrick Hall and [[Cassell Coliseum]] were built. In 1975 the Tech Foundation bought the quarry from the local Cupp family.<ref name="rtmoxley"/> In 2010, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors made it official policy that Hokie Stone be the predominant material in the façade of every new building on the Blacksburg central campus.<ref name="vturpdf"/><ref>[http://www.bov.vt.edu/minutes/10-11-08minutes/BOV_minutes_11-08-10.PDF Board of Visitors Meeting minutes] November 8, 2010. Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. p.4. Retrieved February 3, 2012</ref> Today each campus project uses an average of 1,500 tons of Hokie Stone, with each ton of stone covering about 35 square feet.<ref name="bsm"/><ref name="rtpulliam">{{cite news|url=http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story168531.html|title=Chiseling away - one Hokie stone at a time|last=Pulliam|first=Daniel |date=June 18, 2004|accessdate=February 3, 2012|work=Roanoke Times}}</ref> The use of the local stone may add as much as $1 million to the cost of a new building.<ref name="rtmoxley"/>
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In addition to building exteriors, Hokie Stone is used in important monuments such as biographical markers outside each campus building providing a brief history of the person for whom the building is named. Thirty-two Hokie Stones were quarried by university stonemasons and engraved with the names of students and professors killed in the [[Virginia Tech massacre|April 2007 school shooting]].  The memorial is a permanent version of one students spontaneously created using smaller stones.<ref name="post">{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901018.html|title=In Blacksburg, a Solid Reminder of Lives Lost|date=August 20, 2007|work=Washington Post | first=Theresa | last=Vargas | accessdate=May 4, 2010}}</ref> The Virginia Tech football team enters the playing field through a tunnel with an exit topped by a block of Hokie Stone which is touched by each player.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/sports/ncaafootball/04tech.html?fta=y|title=For College Football Thrills, Go South and Stop at the Calf |last=Jenkins|first=Lee|date=November 4, 2005|work=New York Times}}</ref>  In 2011, Virginia Tech even offered Hokie Stone as an option for the centerpiece of [[class rings]].<ref name="ctimes">{{cite news|url=http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14389/tonights-100th-ring-ceremony-celebrates-heritage/p3|title=Tonight's 100th ring ceremony celebrates heritage |last=Block|first=Gordon|date=October 12, 2009|work=Collegiate Times}}</ref>
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==Gallery==
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<gallery  widths="180px" heights="180px" perrow="4">
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File:Hokie Stone Saw.JPG|<center>''The saw that cuts Hokie Stone down to manageable sizes''
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File:Hokie Stone Breaker.JPG|<center>''The breaker that breaks Hokie Stone to sizes that can be easily handled''
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File:Hokie Stone example.JPG|<center>''Hokie Stone on O'Shaughnessy Hall''
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{{-}}
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</gallery>
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==See also==
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*[[Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]]
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*[[Virginia Tech campus]]
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*[[Virginia Tech Hokies]]
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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<references />
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{{reflist}}
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==External links==
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*[http://www.bov.vt.edu/minutes/10-11-08minutes/attach_h_11-08-10.pdf Resolution on Hokie Stone], "Attachment H" to minutes of Virginia Tech Board of Visitors meeting on November 8, 2010.
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[[Category:Buildings]]
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[[Category:Facilities]]

Latest revision as of 02:53, 13 October 2012

Norris Hall with Hokie Stone façade

Hokie Stone is a grey dolomite limestone named for the Hokie mascot of Virginia Tech where the stone is the primary finishing material on campus buildings. Hokie Stone is limestone infused with magnesium and calcium under intense pressure and temperature. Formation of the stone began 450 million years ago when the local area was covered by a shallow sea.[1] Hokie Stone with impurities such as siltstone and sandstone is multi-colored and found on some newer Blacksburg campus structures.[1]

Eighty percent of the stone is quarried from a 40-acre (160,000 m2) Virginia Tech-owned quarry a few miles from campus near the Highland Park subdivision of Blacksburg, Virginia.[1] Twenty-five to thirty Virginia Tech employees use black powder each day to dislodge the stone, cut it into block sizes required by campus construction projects and then finish the blocks by hand using hammers and chisels. In 2010 Virginia Tech upgraded the quarry equipment to reduce costs, including the purchase of a computer-driven saw.[1] Hokie Stone from this quarry can only be sold to Virginia Tech.[1] The remaining 10% of stone, which is black, is mined once per year from an additional quarry located on a local farm near Lusters Gate. About 50 tons can be quarried each week.[1] The university-owned quarry has been in operation since the 1950s.[2][3]

History

The main quarry in Blacksburg. This is the south slope

When the university was founded in 1872, buildings were simple brick constructions, reflecting the architecture of Blacksburg at that time. The first Hokie Stone was cut in 1899 for the YMCA Building (now the Performing Arts Building), the first to be constructed of Hokie Stone. In 1914, the first McBryde Hall introduced the Hokie Stone-clad neo-Gothic style (similar to great European universities) which became the official architecture of the campus.[3] The native woodland Indians are believed to have made tools from Hokie Stone.[1] During the 1960s and 1970s, concrete and brick structures absent of Hokie Stone such as Dietrick Hall and Cassell Coliseum were built. In 1975 the Tech Foundation bought the quarry from the local Cupp family.[1] In 2010, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors made it official policy that Hokie Stone be the predominant material in the façade of every new building on the Blacksburg central campus.[3][4] Today each campus project uses an average of 1,500 tons of Hokie Stone, with each ton of stone covering about 35 square feet.[2][5] The use of the local stone may add as much as $1 million to the cost of a new building.[1]

In addition to building exteriors, Hokie Stone is used in important monuments such as biographical markers outside each campus building providing a brief history of the person for whom the building is named. Thirty-two Hokie Stones were quarried by university stonemasons and engraved with the names of students and professors killed in the April 2007 school shooting. The memorial is a permanent version of one students spontaneously created using smaller stones.[6] The Virginia Tech football team enters the playing field through a tunnel with an exit topped by a block of Hokie Stone which is touched by each player.[7] In 2011, Virginia Tech even offered Hokie Stone as an option for the centerpiece of class rings.[8]

Gallery

  • The saw that cuts Hokie Stone down to manageable sizes
  • The breaker that breaks Hokie Stone to sizes that can be easily handled
  • Hokie Stone on O'Shaughnessy Hall

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Moxley, Tonia (November 22, 2011). "Upgraded Hokie Stone Quarry Rolls Out More Rock". Roanoke Times. http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/301442. Retrieved February 3, 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Paper, Jodi (Summer 2006). "A Hokie Stone by Any Other Name is not Hokie Stone". Building Stone Magazine. http://www.buildingstoneinstitute.org./images/mag_files/2006_bsi_summer.pdf. Retrieved February 3, 2012. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Virginia Tech's Stone of Tradition" (pdf). Virginia Tech, University Relations. 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012. 
  4. ↑ Board of Visitors Meeting minutes November 8, 2010. Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. p.4. Retrieved February 3, 2012
  5. ↑ Pulliam, Daniel (June 18, 2004). "Chiseling away - one Hokie stone at a time". Roanoke Times. http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story168531.html. Retrieved February 3, 2012. 
  6. ↑ Vargas, Theresa (August 20, 2007). "In Blacksburg, a Solid Reminder of Lives Lost". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901018.html. Retrieved May 4, 2010. 
  7. ↑ Jenkins, Lee (November 4, 2005). "For College Football Thrills, Go South and Stop at the Calf". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/sports/ncaafootball/04tech.html?fta=y. 
  8. ↑ Block, Gordon (October 12, 2009). "Tonight's 100th ring ceremony celebrates heritage". Collegiate Times. http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14389/tonights-100th-ring-ceremony-celebrates-heritage/p3. 

External links

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