Hawkins Park in disrepair

Abby Taylor The Janice Hawkins Cultural Arts Park is experiencing erosion and water damage, causing engineers to rethink some design points, according to Mark Salmon, the director of the physical plant. Most of the damage can be seen around the Terracotta Warrior exhibits and under the bridge across the lagoon. Salmon said maintenance workers will begin working on the erosion around the exhibits this week. “They’re gonna be going back in there with some landscaping fabric and try to stabilize that material that’s built around those statues and in those areas,” Salmon said. Under the bridge, other damage can be seen in the form of a fallen concrete flume, which is part of an artificial channel. “There’s a concrete flume that came off the rear wall,” Salmon said. “It was put in there to capture some of the water that came over the design of this spillway. “It ended up failing, and so right now the engineers, they’re working to come up with a solution to come back in there and put back in some stone and some other things that will be more permanent and longer lasting.” According to Salmon, the engineers and physical plant staff are working to find a solution to minimize the erosion created by water in that area. “When we look at the structure … it does not need a flume and it doesn’t need the concrete that failed,” Salmon said. “We’re just trying to come up with something that will work and be functional and aesthetic for that area.” Bo Gaston, a junior hospitality management major from Camden, said he does not like the park’s current condition. “The condition of the park is just sad because Troy University is just throwing away money like it’s nothing, it seems,” Gaston said. Gaston also said he is concerned this project will be rushed and the repairs will not be done well. “Troy likes to put Band-Aids on things without fixing the real problems,” he said.