University Daily Kansan, October 9, 1981 Page 7
Great Times
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KU chooses building renovation
BySTEVE ROBRAHN Staff Reporter
Some buildings at the University of Kansas seem to keep getting recycled while others have vanished.
Renovation is a relatively new approach to preserve tradition and save money, Stephen Grabow, director of the structure program, said yesterday. But he will build cost-effectively in the same grant style as they were in the past.
"It is remarkable to recycle an old building," he said of the recently-completed Marvin Hill renovation. "It shows what is possible with buildings that aren't considered that remarkable."
Four buildings at KU are being renovated, and there are no plans to tear down any buildings for at least 10 years, according to planning officials.
-
The University hasn't really changed
its philosophy about old buildings, said Allen Wiechert, director of facilities planning, because buildings torn down years past were structurally un-sound.
"People are finding it cheaper to renovate than to tear buildings down nationally," he said. "I don't anticipate in the next decade that any major buildings will be torn down on campus."
Old Fraser Hall, which was razed in mid-1965 after considerable controversy, was the main building of the University in its early days.
"I wasn't here when old Fraser was torn down," Wiechert said, "but from what I understand, it wasn't structurally sound. Blake turned out to be cheaper to rebuild than to renovate the old building."
Two other buildings, old Robinson Gymnasium and old Haworth Hall, were torn down to make way for
Spooner Hall, the oldest building on campus, was renovated three times by 88-year-old Bainbridge.
"Old Haworth Hall was just a terrible old building that no one wanted to build."
First constructed as a library, Spooner was remodeled in 1928 to house an art museum, Wiechert said. A renovation in the 1950s improved display areas and air conditioning was installed.
Wescoe Hall at about the same time
Frother was demolished.
"Robinson ended up in the wrong place," Wiechert said. "As the campus grew westward, the need to relocate the gymnasium near the perimeter of the campus increased. A flat area for classrooms was needed near the gymnasium.
Both buildings were replaced with both ones on the University's south slope.
See RENOVATION page 9
Strict rules part of Greeks' history
By JANICE GUNN
Staff Reporter
The first two Greek houses—Beta Theta Psi fraternity and Beta Phi phi sorority—were established on the KU campus after the University's founding in 1866.
Even during that Victorian Age, fraternity members were leading a fast pace for campus men.
Interest in Greek housing boomed as the Greek movement grew to 17 houses in 1800.
EARLY GREEK life was described by Clifford Griffin in his book, "The University of Kansas-A History," as being very competitive with the houses struggling for fame, power and prizes in contests.
Griffin wrote, "They drank liquor.
For the most part, the Greeks lived in rented rooms in downtown Lawrence until the 1890s, but soon after that they began to rent or buy houses.
smoked, played cards, dice and practical lakes and had sex."
SORORITY MEMBERS of the time,
however, didn't share the men's
Women had to obey strict rules and codes that guide almost every aspect of their lives.
There were dress codes, study hours and times when men weren't allowed to wear skirts.
The Greek system thrived on a tradition of strict rules—with houses requiring formal attire to dinner and requiring members to maintain secrecy.
These rules carried over into the present Greek house rules, although they are not as severe. Greek houses are not required formal dress for every dinner.
Sororites still abide by the rules of no men upstairs and mandatory chapter
FROM 1909 until 1923, Greek houses
Up until 1923, the Greek system had 49 sororities and fraternities, according to an article in the University of Kansas Graduate Magazine.
seemed to have a monopoly on organized living groups. Then in the fall of 1923, the first residence hall, Corbin, was built.
According to Donald Alderson, dean of student services and former dean of men, the war caused fraternities to lose memberships—the men were drafted or enlisted.
But nothing ruffled the Greek system, not even residence halls or apartment buildings, until World War II.
Some fraternity houses were given to See GREEKS page 9
A fire on Feb. 11, 1911, destroyed the Bowersock Opera House, but when it reopened less than a year later the Lawrence Gazette said that the "Lawrence play goes wisp gas to the lavishness of its interior decoration and finish." The article described the Grecian ornamentation, the murals of dancing girls, the rose-tinted walls and balconies, which were assured the public that the Opera House was absolutely fireproof. Blacks would be seated only in the rear balcony.
Entertainment
small orchestras would play music to blend in with the mood and action of the film. The Bowersock Opera House (1927) is a picture, "The Canary Murder," in 1927.
Yes, the Bowersock had something for everyone . . . minstrels, with faces blackened with burnt cork, performed comedy routines in their white ties and tails, Mickey Rooney sang and danced for a Bowersock audience, and a few of them danced to the music stage, tempted in part by the gift of a honeymoon suite at the Eldridge Hotel.
THE VARSITY and the Patee theaters, both which opened during the early 1900's, provided the Bowersock with its only real competition. Oscar Rumsey and Lloyd Wear Jr. sang between the evening shows at the Varsity, and Patee had its own Mickey Mouse Club made up of local kids who paraded down Massachusetts Street to the Saturday matinee behind what is now the retired fire truck in South Park.
Publicity and promotional events for the movies were sometimes more fun than the shows themselves. In 1929, a taxi with a screaming woman passenger sped down Massachusetts streets and opened Jewelry Store. The woman, who was still screaming, jumped out of the car clutching her巾鬃 blouse, with a man following close behind. Naturally, a large crowd had formed on the sidewalk, and soon after, the manager of the Bowersock emerged to tell everyone that she would be scene from "College Widow," now showing at the theater.
From page 6
The Granada Theatre opened in 1934 and attracted a audience with variety acts as well as movies. The audiences at the Granada witnessed a hypnotist who put one volunteer in a deep sleep that lasted for two days, a magician who cut out the eyes of his blades and broken automobile windshields, and KU fraternity boys who stuck to the easy stuff and attempted to swallow record numbers of goldfish.
THE AUDITORIUM, which seated 1,000 people, was originally on the corner of Seventh and Massachusetts Streets where the Lawrence Opera House is today. In the early years, it served as the meeting place for several lodges, churches and political organizations and as the stage for Lawrence High School and the KU Drama Club performances.
bad weather and growing competition with Kansas City and Topeka brought an end to the Western National Fairs in 1888. The following decade saw a man named Jimmie Skinnemark Grove, and in 1900 the land was sold for $10,000 to W. S. Tough.
Lawrence, which brags of being the first town to show talking movies west of the Mississippi River, was a regular stopping place for nearly all big-stage shows during its years. "Wind" was released in 1939, Lawrence received early showing privileges after
The Western National Fair of 1882 provided competition for what would soon become another popular place of entertainment. The Bowerow戏馆 House opened with a Gilbert and Sullivan opera performance of "FIRST MEN" by theatrical horse races, exhibits and the regatta attracted crowds to North Lawrence.
For many years, silent movies were a big attraction, and pipe organs and
the world premiere in Atlanta. As part of the advance publicity, saleswomen at Weaver's Department Store modeled gowns worn by the leading actresses.
What brought it all to an end? Competition forced out the old forms of entertainment, said Frank Scott, a lawyer who retired Years of Lawrence Theatres."
One year later, in the spring in 1940, the world premiere of "The Dark Command," a fictional account of Quantrill's raid in 1863, took place at the Varsity, Granada and Dickinson theaters. Four students from KU were chosen by a popularity contest to escort the stars of the show, including John Wayne, Walter Pidgeon, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Gabby Hayes.
YES, THOSE WERE the good oll days . . . circuses performed at Haskell Pasture, summer concerts by the John Buchi military band were held every Friday night, there was a roller coaster in Woodland Park, oyster suppers at in Hotel, and lectures by Susan B. Anthony and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Steve Jansen, director of Watkins Community Museum, in 1047 Massachusetts St., said that in the early years, "national media came to Lawrence on Lawrence's terms." By the 1920s, however, small local cultures were becoming affected by improved communication methods, he said. The newspaper reported that a quicker than before and radio listening was becoming a popular pastime. "Time and distance no longer meant anything," Jansen said.
BUT IN THE late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, time and distance forced the people of Lawrence to invent and create their own entertainment. "You couldn't turn on the tube or go to the disco," said Scott. "There was very little to do, and there weren't many ways to get around. People searched for recreation. They created a lot of glamour."
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