It was such a beautiful morning I decided to drive over to Chapel Hill and get some photos of the Dean Dome on the University of North Carolina campus---the home of the UNC Tarheels.. Actually I wanted to "case the joint" to see where the Broughton fans will be sitting on Saturday night when the Broughton High School boys play Olympic for the 4A NCHSAA State Championship. I want to be sure that I get behind the Broughton bench as I have for the last four years that Zach has been on the team.
It was special being in the Dean Dome with no other person around. I could soak in the beauty of the arena without the distraction of a crowd, and it is beautiful.
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| The bleachers. The uppermost ones aren't going to be used for Saturday's game. |
I'll share some of the photos with you.
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| The front of the Dean Dome. | |
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| Broughton will be the home team and will be sitting where the Carolina team usually sits. |
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| View from the end of the court. It is hard to believe that Zach will be playing there Saturday night. |
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| I was a college sophomore in 1957, and I remember watching on TV that Championship game. |
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| Six national championships. I didn't realize there was one in 1924. |
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The campus was deserted because of Spring Break. When I was teaching in college I found it too quiet and a bit sad when students were away on Spring and Fall Breaks. It's just not the same without the chatter of students around campus.
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| Deserted campus with students on Spring Break. |
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| Sidewalk between the Dean Dome and the Natatorium. |
I am so excited and look forward to the game on Saturday night. Win or lose it will be a special adventure for the team and for me.
I moved into the 7th floor of Hinton James dormitory on the southern end of campus in August 1982 as a freshman at UNC. I looked out my back window at a hillside covered with nothing but forest, and thought, "What a beautiful view." The next day, bulldozers rolled in there and started cutting down trees to clear a space for the Dean Dome. The entire year we had dust and noise, but it was also very fun to watch it being built. At some point, when the building was finished but not yet opened, I sneaked into the Dean Dome with a couple of friends, and we climbed to the ceiling, and out to the roof, and then to the top of the dome. It was a really fun and interesting time for me as a student. It's a beautiful building.
ReplyDeleteAva, I gather you must not have acrophobia. I wouldn't be able to sit in the "nosebleed" section of the Dome because of my acrophobia.
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