In the heart of the Diag, the bronze "M" that has existed for decades is gone.
Since the opening of the Diag on Sunday, many students have worried that the bronze, blue and gold M would never return. Julianne Chard, coordinator for the Diag reconstruction project, is doing what she can to still the panic.
Chard, a University civil engineer, said the M is indeed coming back and will be installed by the end of the month.
"It's going to be just like it always was," Chard said.
LSA sophomore David Taub said the missing M leaves the Diag incomplete.
"This is terrible. You take something which is pretty much the shrine of the University, with so much history, and you leave this." he said, referring to the brick M on which he was standing. "It doesn't even look like an M."
The refurbished landmark's surroundings will be different, however. In addition to changes on the Diag - more trees, pathways, lighting and brick to replace the cement - the M will be set in a 369-square-foot granite frame. Chard said the brick on the Diag will be torn up again to accomodate it.
University Planner Fred Mayer said both the M and the Diag give the University a powerful centered feeling.
"If someone at Michigan said, 'Meet me at the center of campus,' you'd know exactly where to go," Mayer said. "If someone said that in Lansing, you wouldn't be sure."
In May, the bronze M was removed and taken to Minnesota, where it was supposed to be attached to a granite slab. The University has since changed its plan to use a specific type of granite, so the M will actually return to Ann Arbor completely unchanged, Chard said.
Randy Krull, owner of the construction company that handled the project, said the M will arrive this week. It will then be embedded in the rock, shipped from a Brazil quarry.
"(The rock) is called 'Giallo Veneziano,'" Krull said. "It's kind of a gold-type granite - gold and red flashes through it."
Many nine-square-foot blocks of granite will make up the frame, and the M should be in place by September 15 or by October at the latest, Krull said.
The M seal was originally a gift from the University class of 1953. It replaced an old brick M torn out the year before - the last time the Diag was renovated.
"It was unveiled on May 11th as a gift to President Hatcher," said Anne Frantilla, an associate archivist at the Bentley Historical Library.
The seal was then set in mortar with epoxy, a special type of glue. The dried-up epoxy made removal hard for the construction workers.
The 1953 graduating seniors held an art contest to decide the M's exact design, Frantilla said. The M is half an inch thick and made of solid bronze. It's original cost was $400.
The M is the centerpeice in what Chard termed a remarkable place on campus.
"If you've ever had the opportunity to tour campuses around the U.S., I don't think you'd find one as nice or as public as this one," Chard said.
FILE PHOTO
The University of Michigan's famed M will soon return to its home on the Diag.