User:Dkatz36/English Building (University of Illinois)



The English Building, formerly known as the Woman's building, is an educational building located at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign on the west side of the Main Quadrangle. Opening in October, 1905, the English Building was originally designed as a residence hall by the architecture firm, McKim, Mead & White, but now serves as a classroom building.

Location
The English building can be found on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is located on the west side of the Main Quadrangle between Lincoln Hall and the Henry Administration Building.

History
The English building was dedicated on October 16, 1905 as the Woman's Building, serving as a woman's dormitory. By 1937, the building was no longer a residence hall and was beginning to house different educational departments of the university. By 1946, the building was heavily occupied by the home economics department and was consequently renamed Bevier Hall after Isabel Bevier, the director of the department of home economics from 1900 to 1912. In 1956, the new Bevier hall had been constructed and the English department took over the building, renaming it the English Building.

Design
The English building's original design was that of a residence hall. It included a pool and locker room in the basement as well as a 92 by 50 foot gymnasium on the second floor. The exterior of the English building consists of red brick and white stone with dormer windows. The interior has a central colonnade flanked by twin towers that are topped with low-rising domes with pineapple spires.

Renovations
Several major renovations have been made to the English building including one in 1913 costing $136,308.26, and one in 1924 costing $85,000. The 1913 renovations consisted of the addition of a three story front measuring 200 feet across with twin 83 foot wings. This renovation added the building's east colonnade, as well as twin smaller ones on the north and south sides of the inner courtyard.

In 1959, the skylight in the main atrium was replaced, costing $4,760.