A ($32,853?) Lawn Chair Affair

We here at the University Press Club love all the new lawn chairs on campus. But we were also curious. How many were bought? How much did they cost? Have any been stolen? We did a little digging... On-campus squirrel numbers appear to be down this fall, but one metric is experiencing a significant uptick: the number of lawn chairs – and correlated to that, the number of people doing their class readings out in the crisp fall air.This pilot project is the brainchild of Ronald McCoy, the University architect. The goal, he explained in an email, is to make the campus more friendly and welcoming. Unlike fixed benches, “these chairs invite people to decide where they want to sit, so every day the chairs move slightly to new locations,” he said. “I like the idea that they leave a trace of events from the day before.”Scattered across Princeton campus now are 47 adirondack chairs (made 100% from recycled plastic milk containers) for the greens and 60 cafe chairs for plaza settings. With bike thefts so prevalent on campus, are there worries about the chairs growing legs and scuttling away?“The chairs have moved around a bit but so far we are very pleased that the campus community has shown great respect and there have not been any thefts. We count the chairs and check their locations every two weeks,” said McCoy.And how much do the chairs each cost? McCoy explained that the purchases were funded by the annual campus Landscape Master Plan, but declined to provide more details on cost. Guided by her instincts, however, this reporter flipped one of the lawn chairs over to check its underside for tell-tale signs of  branding. And alas, she found a clue: a label that read 'Loll Design.'A quick Google search later...Each chair costs $699 -  which means that, if the University didn't get a bulk-order discount, it spent a total of $32,853 on 47 of these chairs.This splurge isn't entirely surprising. The University, as we reported in 2009, has in the past splurged on pricey designer chairs (think of the 74 $1,199-apiece designer chairs at Lewis Library).-MH