New benches to line Olive Walk

The UA is about make one of its most historic walkways a more comfortable place to enjoy.

The Campus Arboretum will dedicate eight new sage green metal benches along Olive Walk, just inside the Main Gate on Friday, Sept. 3. The walk is part of the UA Campus Arboretum. The benches, created by Tucson artist James Meador, will allow the UA community and visitors to enjoy lunch or quiet conversation under the heritage olive trees. Robert Forbes, a chemistry professor and the first director of the UA Agricultural Experiment Station, planted the trees in the 1890s.

Each bench along the walk represents a substantial donation that supports the Campus Arboretum's mission to enhance and protect the large tree collection on the UA campus. Donations to the UA Campus Arboretum provide funds that support student work, tree replacement, horticultural training and improvement of shady nooks and peaceful retreats on campus. All donors and bench honorees have been invited to cut the ribbons on the wrought iron benches at the dedication.

The UA campus is the oldest continually maintained green space in Arizona. For more than 100 years, UA students, faculty, staff and visitors have enjoyed the beautifully landscaped campus in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. Many specimens have been planted by faculty and students, or donated by graduating classes. Today's campus maintains more than 500 tree species.

Old hall gets new life as herbarium

The UA community is invited to the rededication of the university's second-oldest building on campus, Herring Hall, on Friday, Sept. 3, at 9 a.m.

Herring Hall was built in 1903 for $6,675 - $5,000 of which was donated by the Copper Queen Mining Company. Col. William Herring, legal counsel for the company, arranged the gift.

David Holmes, a mechanical arts professor, designed Herring Hall and several other UA buildings, two of which still stand. South Hall (1913) houses the military sciences programs, and Science Hall (1909) is now home to the communication department.

Herring Hall has since served as a campuswide resource for more than 100 years.

Originally the men's gymnasium, Herring Hall has since housed a multitude of diverse programs, including the women's physical education program, the drama department, the school of journalism, the radio and television bureau, the Landscape Architecture Program and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate student work.

After a year-long rehabilitation supported by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the UA, Herring Hall is ready to reopen its doors as the new home of the UA Herbarium and the Campus Arboretum.

The rededication program will include a ceremony, tours of the building and refreshments.

Herring Hall is located in the heart of the UA campus, 1130 E. South Campus Drive, next to the Forbes Building and near Old Main.