A large rock that recently appeared on the west side of Curtiss Hall will soon have a purpose — it’s been placed to bear the medallion awarded to Iowa State by the American Society of Landscape Architects.

“The award honors the beauty, long-term sustainability, preservation and restoration of the central campus,” said Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design.

“It can now be memorialized,” he said.

To celebrate its centennial, the American Society of Landscape Architects chose more than 300 medallion sites to honor places with “special significance that had some importance,” Engelbrecht said.

ISU’s central campus was chosen as a medallion site during the summer.

Although a total of 13 colleges were honored by the organization, only three were central campus sites.

The others include the University of Virginia and Yale University.

Although the award was presented in the first week of August, there had been some discussion about where the medallion was actually going to be placed and what type of rock would be used. As of now, the rock only bears an encircled cross.

Lester Lawson, assistant manager at Facilities Planning and Management, said the plaque had to be sent out of town to get brackets so it could be mounted on the stone.

“It should only take a couple of weeks to complete,” said Kendrick Fox, landscape architect for Facilities Planning and Management, “if they don’t run into any problems.”

The 12-inch medallion will be placed on the rock along with a plaque.

Engelbrecht said he believes that ISU was awarded the medallion because of the significance that central campus plays in the lives of ISU students.

“It relates all the activities and people of this university together. It is a wonderfully expressive container for our aspirations,” he said. “We’re privileged to live on one of the most beautiful campuses in the world.”