Legacy Gazebo, Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw State University’s Legacy Gazebo serves as an outdoor amphitheater and gathering place for campus life. Plans for the structure began in early 1995 under Doctor Betty Siegel’s latter years as University President to honor then-Kennesaw State College’s retired and deceased faculty. The planned gazebo and amphitheater were to be erected near the Social Sciences Building and old campus green. Standing 28-feet at its tallest point, the gazebo is made of pre-engineered steel with a two-tiered metal roof covered with wood shingles and is crowned with a center copula. Dedicated and erected in 1997 in its chosen location, the Legacy Gazebo hosts various student events, ceremonies, and continues to be a staple on the campus.

Outdoor gathering places and auditoriums facilitate and improve student life on any university campus. The Legacy Gazebo serves this purpose for Kennesaw State University, operating as an invaluable part of the campus' mosaic of academic facilities, green areas, offices, and recreation spaces.

Initial plans to build a gazebo near the original campus green to honor the university’s retired faculty and staff commenced in 1995 during Dr. Betty Siegel’s latter years as University President. The planned gazebo and outdoor amphitheater complex was initially named the “Retirees’ Gazebo”, but this name did not make it to the facility’s dedication, when an unspecified name change occurred during the drafting process. The original 1995 draft for the gazebo and associated patio was to cost the College twenty-five thousand dollars (forty-nine thousand dollar adjusted for inflation as 2023), but costs would supersede this initial budget. The gazebo and amphitheater complex ultimately cost the University fifty-thousand dollars upon its 1997 dedication.

The redubbed “Legacy Gazebo” proposal enjoyed student and faculty support via fundraising and a collaborative university cookbook, although some retired staff elected to not have their names engraved on the structure’s stonework alongside their colleagues. In the nearly three-decades since its 1997 dedication, the Legacy Gazebo remains a staple on KSU’s campus where students congregate between classes, student-musicians entertain their colleagues, classes hold events, and improves the University's character as a whole.

The gazebo-amphitheater complex's uniquely open and visible position on campus ensures accessibility and invites a diverse set of events. While the gazebo and amphitheater play host to informal gatherings or class/club discussions, the complex has also hosted more significant events. In 2007, the venue hosted a small concert called "Southern Discomfort", headlined by leftist folksinger David Rovics. Twelve years later in 2019, the Legacy Gazebo hosted a celebration for the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall; with a 5,000 pound, ten foot segment of the dividing wall looming in the background, which continues to stand alongside the complex.

A structure's flexibility and adaptable use not only speak to a well-conceived project, but also a lasting impact on an environment. The Legacy Gazebo has provided such an impact for a generation now. One of Dr. Siegel's last gifts to KSU, the space honors the University and the world's past, the present day in the student community, and the future with all the opportunity such a space provides for future shows, orchestras, and ceremonies.

Wicks, Cicely. ""Southern Discomfort"." “The Atlanta Constitution" (Atlanta) April 26th, 2007, JF3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/422822956/?terms=legacy%20gazebo&match=1

University Archives and Special Collections. Department of Museums, Archives and Rare Books, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA.