UND Today

University of North Dakota’s Official News Source

VIDEO: How do you move a campus landmark?

The answer is slowly and with great care, when that landmark is UND’s Eternal Flame

For the first time in 60 years, the Eternal Flame structure — formally known as the Old Main Memorial Sphere — has been moved. The temporary move will make room for construction in Merrifield Hall, and the video above shows how the move took place.

The plaza between Merrifield and Twamley halls marks the site of Old Main, the University’s first building. Old Main opened in 1884 and was demolished in 1962.

The centerpiece of the plaza is the Old Main Memorial Sphere, created by the late Stanley Johnson, longtime UND art professor. The steel-and-bronze sphere, 7 feet in diameter and 16 feet high, is laced with 29 figures representing educational development. An eternal flame burns in the center of the sphere.

Engraved on a bronze plaque at the base are the names of the eight UND presidents who served in Old Main, a depiction of the building, and four lines of UND’s anthem, “Alma Mater:· The sphere was dedicated in 1963.

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