Construction of a memorial garden to honor writer William Faulkner is underway on the site of the former power plant between the Duff Center and Carrier Hall on All American Drive.
The $5.1 million project is set to be completed in summer 2025, according to Chad Hunter, university architect and director of the Department of Facilities Planning. Hunter said the site was chosen because of its connection to the Nobel Prize-winning author.
“William Faulkner worked for the university in the power plant,” Hunter said. “During low peak times, Faulkner would find time to write and would do so on the backside of a wheelbarrow inside the plant.”
Hunter said the memorial was designed in tandem with the Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology, which opened in fall 2024.
“The university determined the best use of this site is to commemorate William Faulkner and provide a green space for reflection for students and the community,” Hunter said.
The garden will include a sculptural smokestack and an interpretive screen that will display a timeline of Faulkner’s writing, according to Hunter.
The Department of Facilities Planning is managing the project, McCarthy Architects is designing the garden and an Andropogon Associates architect is focusing on the landscape design. The contractor is Abbey Bridges Construction.
Rachel Hudson, assistant curator of Rowan Oak Museum, sees the project as a way to preserve Faulkner’s legacy. Rowan Oak, linked by the Bailey Woods Trail to the University Museum, was Faulkner’s home.
“We’re thrilled by any sort of connection that we can make between Faulkner’s home here and campus,” Hudson said.
According to Hudson, the garden will be located where Faulkner is speculated to have written parts of his novel “As I Lay Dying.”
“There’s that neat myth that a lot of people know that William Faulkner supposedly wrote part of his novel ‘As I Lay Dying’ when he worked the night shift at the powerhouse on campus. That powerhouse is no longer there, but the memorial garden will be.”
Hudson hopes the garden will help Rowan Oak attract students.
“There are only so many Nobel Prize winners in America, and the only one from Mississippi lived here in Oxford and has a legacy here,” Hudson said. “I think students (will) hopefully notice that, and it’ll pique their interest in Faulkner’s history and literature and perhaps make them meander out to Rowan Oak and tour it.”
