Posted March 18, 2013

#TUbigchairs: Build them and they will come

When students returned from Spring Break on Monday, something new greeted them at Temple's Main Campus. Something big.

While students were away, Tony "The Hat" Molinari of the Facilities Management Carpentry Shop constructed and painted two giant Adirondack chairs, one cherry and one white, each painted with a Temple "T" and the hashtag #TUbigchairs. The super-sized newcomers join Temple's pre-existing fleet of colorful plastic Adirondack chairs placed throughout Main Campus in the spring.

The chairs — which stand seven feet tall, weigh nearly 300 pounds and are built to sustain the weight of many students — were installed at the Bell Tower over the weekend. Almost as soon as they were secured, students began to discover the chairs, climb into them, take tagged pictures and share them via Twitter, Instagram and other social media.

The idea for the new chairs came from Temple Senior Vice President for Construction, Facilities and Operations James Creedon's 19-year-old son Stephen, a frequent visitor to campus.

 

— Hillel J. Hoffmann