After a semester of searching, the Ramblin’ Reck Club is still looking for a new home for the Ramblin’ Reck. Last semester, Georgia Tech Capital Planning and Space Management (GT CPSM) and the Athletic Association (AA) asked the Reck Club to vacate its current location by late spring 2011 in order to make room for renovations and construction work for buildings surrounding the Reck’s current location. A solid date for when the Reck has to move has yet to be given.
The Ramblin’ Reck Club currently cannot fund building its own garage to store and maintain the Reck, nor is there any suitable space on campus that satisfies the Reck’s needs. Additionally, Tech is constantly facing space and expansion issues due to Tech’s location in the middle of Atlanta. Due to these conditions, the Ramblin’ Reck Club has to appeal to departments like GT CPSM to help with locating and creating space for a new garage and possibly aid in the funding for the construction of the new garage.
“The current garage is extremely small—it does not allow for repairs to be done indoors, it’s difficult to get in and out of, and is not suitable for the school mascot. I see this situation as an opportunity to house the Reck in a better and proper garage—but it will take a lot of work” said Austin Berry third-year, MGT major and the car’s official driver.
Both President G.P. “Bud” Peterson and Dean Stein, Dean of Students, have been made aware of the situation and expressed concern. However, the main group of people working to solve the problem are Howard Wertheimer, the Director of CPSM, Andy Bolling from Space Management and Lance Lunsway the Director of Parking and Transportation (P&T).
Initially GT CPSM suggested that the Reck Club move the Wreck away from campus. That would move the Reck farther off campus than it has lived since it was first made the Tech mascot in 1961.
“It is important to have the Reck on campus because, being the official school mascot, the Ramblin’ Reck should represent Georgia Tech in every aspect of this school,” Berry said. “It should be involved with school activities and events. It’s included in logos, merchandise, and recruitment materials. It was brought to campus as a way to unify the student body, and now, it not only does that, but unifies alumni and fans as well…. How can it accomplish its duties without that simple physical connection of being in the heart of campus?”
The Reck Club is meeting with organizations in the administration, including CPSM and P&T, to try and find a place to keep the Reck. The Reck Club is hoping to quickly find a suitable location at a reasonable cost so that physical steps can be taken to meet the Reck’s needs by the beginning of fall semester at latest.
“Ideally we would like to have a separate building that houses the Reck with ample space for repairs but space is very limited,” Berry said. “The main location we’re looking at now is centrally located and safe. Both sides of the discussion seem optimistic about this option, but cost and time may make this difficult to achieve.”
The administration is also working to find a home for the Reck.
“As part of the criteria, the ideal location would be central to campus, eliminating the requirement of having to drive the car through adjacent neighborhoods to get to campus,” Wertheimer said, “We hope in the next few weeks that we will be able to finalize a location and share some good news with the Rambling Reck Club.”
“The Reck represents students, alumni, fans, and the school in general—the Reck is everything Georgia Tech,” Berry said. “As a school, we can’t afford to hesitate in making sure our mascot has what it needs. It’s very important that we get the ball rolling on this situation as we don’t have much time and there are many other projects CPSM has to deal with.”