Morrill Hall

jdoggivjc · 04-07-2007, 12:14 AM

Attending ISU from '97-'03, I got to listen to the continuous debates of what to do with Morrill Hall. It had become dilapidated to the point of condemnation and hadn't been used in years. The big debate was what to do with it - tear it down, let it sit, or renovate it. Tearing it down was big w/ ISU administaration b/c of the state it was in. However, many people objected to this due to the history of Morrill Hall, and since ISU is a land grant university, a rule at one time (it may still exist) said each land grant campus had to have a Morrill Hall on it and it should be refurbished.

Long story short, I got an e-mail today saying that Morrill Hall's renovation has been completed and tenants are once again moving in. I think this is great news. Morrill Hall is an historic building on campus and it's nice to see that it's been renovated and is being used again.

MORRILL VICTORY
The doors are opening once again to Morrill Hall, the campus landmark that was restored and renovated thanks to $10 million in gifts through a private fundraising campaign launched 4 ½ years ago. The building was officially opened March 19, with classrooms beginning to be used this week. The building has three tenants - the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, the Christian Petersen Art Museum, and the Center for Visual Learning in Textiles and Clothing. The first two tenants have moved in; the third will begin to relocate this summer. However, the center will have an exhibit open in the Morrill gallery in time for VEISHEA. The official Morrill Hall rededication ceremony is slated for Friday, April 20 at 11 a.m. "The building looks really good," said Kerry Dixon-Fox, Morrill Hall facilities project manager, adding that her favorite area is the former chapel on the second floor, which has been converted into a 70-seat, two-tiered classroom. The balcony has been removed from the space, but the wood trim has been restored and several decorative ceiling grills have been put back in place.

Cyclone62 · 04-07-2007, 12:22 AM

I thought Morrill Hall was named after someone from ISU? Which would make a little more sense because Morrill Hall was not the first building of Iowa State.... Land-Grant colleges started as colleges that taught agriculture and home economics... They got that term because they farmed the land of the college through a federal grant. That's why the Farm-House is the oldest building on campus, the rest of it was crop land....

jdoggivjc · 04-07-2007, 12:24 AM

Yeah, Morrill Hall wasn't the first but it had to have been in the works b/c each land grant had to have a Morrill Hall.

CrossCyed · 04-07-2007, 12:31 AM

Hmm, for a year I knew it as "that building that's always under construction".

Cyclone62 · 04-07-2007, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

Yeah, Morrill Hall wasn't the first but it had to have been in the works b/c each land grant had to have a Morrill Hall.

Are you sure that's what it had to be named? Or did each land-grant have to have a building designated for something such as Morrill Hall was? Where's CyAggie, he'd be able to tell us if A&M has a "Morrill Hall" or not.

CyForPresident · 04-07-2007, 02:08 AM

Every land grant universities has to have a building named Morrill for the man who created the land grant bill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrill...t_Colleges_Act

ornryactor · 04-07-2007, 02:09 AM

I went in there the other day, just to see what it looked like after like three solid years of renovation. It's absolutely gorgeous inside. They redesigned half the building, and did a fantastic job of it.

mjones34 · 04-07-2007, 02:24 AM

Working at facilities, it's been awesome getting to be in that building during the whole remodeling. It's very nice now and you can't even tell you're in a really old building anymore.

EggMcClone · 04-07-2007, 02:30 AM

I'm really glad they redid it. It was always closed when I was there but you could tell it could be a great looking building.

Cyclone62 · 04-07-2007, 02:30 AM

Originally Posted by CyForPresident

Every land grant universities has to have a building named Morrill for the man who created the land grant bill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrill...t_Colleges_Act

Thanks for the clarification CyforPrez. I didn't know if was just ISU since we were the first Land Grant College, or if it was a necessity of all L-G colleges.

herbiedoobie · 04-07-2007, 02:54 AM

Whoo Hooo! When I was at ISU, we were fighting to save both Old Botany AND Morrill Hall. We were also fighting to save the old Naval Science Building, but we lost that one. It's good to see that BOTH Old Bot and Morrill have been restored. Sometime the 'tards who run ISU can be convinced to "do the right thing!"

I'm guessing that development committee meetings sound somewhat like this: ISU Admin 'tard - "Errrr, let's bulldoze the entire main campus and poot all dah classes in Morton bildins"

ISU Admin 'tard #2 - "Great idee! Let's start tomorrer!"

AirWalke · 04-07-2007, 09:13 AM

I just took a tour of the art exhibit they have in there now. Is that all they're going to use it for, or will there be actual classes in there?

Still, it looks pretty nice. I'm glad they renovated it. I hear a bunch of the construction time was just trying to replace its structure so that it could stay standing.

pulse · 04-07-2007, 09:40 AM

Everyone wanted to save it because everyone knows it, its always been there. Most people might not have a reason to go in it, but architecturally its so unique and has so much character sitting their on campus.

ketelmeister · 04-07-2007, 09:07 PM

Some of us wanted to save our old haunt, Baker House at Storms Hall. It wasn't historic architecture, it wasn't pretty, but it was home. It's now scattered as gravel on some road somewhere.

herbiedoobie · 04-08-2007, 03:13 PM

I'm a former Baker House alum. Provided that Storms was designed as temporary housing to begin with, it didn't do to bad. Odd coincidence, out of the 7 places I lived at Iowa State, each and every one of them has been torn down. I think I tend to put a curse on places I live!