NCAA News: Michigan Planning to Acquire WVU's Woodburn Hall

Ann Arbor, January 30, 2008: MICHIGAN PLANNING TO ACQUIRE WOODBURN HALL

After hiring basketball coach John Beilin and football coach Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia University, Michigan is planning to acquire another venerable landmark from the Mountain State's flagship institution of higher learning: Woodburn Hall, the 19th century academic building considered the very heart of WVU's campus.

While Michigan officials refused to comment, reliable sources report that Woodburn Hall agreed to be transported brick by brick from Morgantown to Ann Arbor.

Nearby building Martin Hall looked surprised by the news, but the Mountainlair, WVU's student union that "never really got along with" Woodburn Hall, appeared relieved. 

Woodburn Hall is to replace Michigan's Chrysler Tower, which served honorably for over three decades, but is being torn down next month.

Michigan officials have said the razing is a result of three decades of wear and tear, but it is widely speculated that the building's demise was also influenced by its dated 1970s retro look and its unprecedented string of four straight losses to Ohio State's Glieberman Library in the Big Ten Annual Campus Architecture Competition.

The loss of Woodburn Hall comes at a particularly inopportune time for WVU, not only coming on the heels of Michigan's luring of the two WVU coaches, but because the building recently received a $1.25 million upgrade consisting of a new roof, state of the art communications rewiring, and a coffee bar.

The building traditionally received routine maintenance, but a year ago, when the University of Florida offered to acquire Woodburn Circle to replace it's hurricane-damaged provost's building, WVU officials offered a sweetened infrastructure package to keep the century-old landmark.

The WVU community is mixed in its opinion of the news. Mark Smith, a grad student in forestry management originally from Poca, said, "I respect what Woodburn Circle has done for us over the years, so I can't really hold this against it. Michigan is a great place to be, and if good ol' Woody has decided to move on, I wish it well."

Peter Hutchison, a sophomore marketing major from Fairmont, had a different response.

"Woodburn Circle is nothing but kindling to me now. I had classes there for cryin' out loud, and I loved it, but if it ever shows its shingles around here again, so help me, God, I'll start a bonfire."

WVU President Mike Garrison had no comment on the loss of Rodriguez or the reported loss of Woodburn Hall, but he was seen meeting with the WVU Mountaineer mascot after sports blogs linked it to the open mascot position at the University of North Dakota, which recently announced plans to raise the profile of its athletic programs.