KULTURE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30.2005 8A
Factor Fiction
The truth behind KU architectural myths
The tower topped out at 332 feet on the south side and 302 feet on the Jayhawk Boulevard side. The south side would have become the tallest building in Kansas.
The Humanities Building would have had an 80-by-80 foot floor plan with 487 faculty offices,28 graduate seminar rooms and 71 graduate study rooms.
By Adam Ferrari ♦ correspondent@kansan.com
The 275,000 square foot Humanities Building contained 51 classrooms and 11 undergraduate study rooms.
The building would have had parking levels with room for 150 automobiles.
If you have ever told someone about how the architect of Strong Hall committed suicide after realizing that he designed it backwards, you have contributed to the urban legends that surround the University of Kansas, which is steeped in tradition and history. With the help of exaggeration, assumptions and simple fabrications, the truth has been lost and several University stories have developed infamy and notoriety. The University history has been extensively recorded and documented throughout the years. With the help of Spencer Research Library, I have set out to confirm and disprove those myths that pervade campus life. So if you have ever wondered about the origins of certain campus buildings or why the University looks the way it does, here is a brief history of our most famous campus myths.
Myth #1: Wesco Hall was meant to be a parking garage for a 20-story office tower
Fact: This story is partly true but mostly misunderstood. The origins of the Humanities Building later named Wescoe Hall begin in the mid '60s with a severe shortage of faculty and staff offices and classrooms for students.
On the site of Wescoe Hall once sat Robinson Gymnasium, the University gymnasium where basketball was played and significant speeches were given. This deteriorating structure sat in the heart of Jayhawk Boulevard until University administrators decided to design a 25-story humanities building on the centrally located site.
Two KU alumni, Art Woodman and Claude Van Doren of Wichita, submitted their proposal to mixed reviews for what would become the tallest structure in Kansas in 1967. Their intention was to create a monumental addition that would complement the existing buildings, especially considering its position on the hill.
The 270,000 square foot structure was to be completed in 1970 at a cost of $5.8 million. The funding could not be achieved with money available from the state, so University administrators decided to
reduce the scale and bring it down to 15 stories in 1968. Even that compromise could not save the tower, and after excavation, the entire design was scrapped. The site lay dormant becoming known as "the pit."
Finally in 1970, another architecture firm produced a new design resembling the current brutalist appearance of Wescoe Hall, which included a vestige of the former tower to house offices for faculty and using the bottom two levels for parking. Once again money became the determining design constraint, and the tower was lost forever with offices now occupying the parking levels.
Therefore, the bottom two levels of Wescoe Hall were once intended to be parking, but it was switched to offices before it was ever constructed.
And that's the truth.
Myth #2: The center of campus was originally planned to be a park
Fact: This legend, while lesser known, is completeness true.
In J. Howard Compton's thesis from 1932 titled, "The Building of the University of Kansas," the chronology of this development is explicitly spelled out. The chancellor at the time, Frank Strong, was bringing about rapid change at the University. The growth under Strong was the fastest of any previous chancellor. He asked the legislature in the early 1900s for two new buildings to meet the need for extra classrooms and a gymnasium.
This brought up the need for a master plan for a future planning precedent.
George E. Kessler, a landscape architecture from Kansas City, Mo., was asked to design the Law Building, present day Lippincott Hall. He also decided to develop drawings for the entire campus.
Kessler's campus plan was unveiled in 1904 and attempted to create a truly unique environment for the University. His design adapted to the natural contours of the land, revealing its symmetry.
SEE FACT ON PAGE 5A
(Left) The original architectural rendering for Wescoe Hall showed a building with more than 20 stories. (Top) Photos show the stages of construction of Strong Hall. The original vision for the building was scaled down in final plans.
ONELINE POLL
Campus myth #849: Do you believe the bronze Jayhawk in front of Strong Hall will fly away if a girl graduates from the University a virgin?
From now on, the weekly kansan.com poll will ask its questions a week in advance, so the results of each KULTURE page poll will correspond to the published story. The following question ties into next week's KULTURE page story, a behind-the-scenes look at Student Union Activities.
How many SUA-sponsored events have you attended in your time at the University?
None — what's SUA?
Probably some, but I'm not sure
Contributed photos from University Archives, Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries
6-10
More than 10 — I'm a fanatic
Come on, get voting!
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