Replacing
a sandstone-faced, wooden structure that burned on December 1, 1884,
Science Hall was completed in December, 1887, and was first occupied
by University personnel in January, 1888. It was one of the first,
if not the very first, buildings in the country to be constructed of
all masonry and metal materials (wood was used only in window and door
frames and for some floors), and may be the only one still extant.
Massive iron and steel beams provide the framework for the building’s
central section and its interior floors. In spite of the importance
of this innovative use of then-modern building materials for structural
support, the distinctive look of Science Hall depends more upon its
masonry, “its imaginative use of stone, brick, and tile.”
Described
as representing “Richardson Romanesque” style (in the tradition
of Henry Hobson Richardson), Science Hall presents itself with dignity,
strength, and boldness. Its dark red brick walls rise from a stately
foundation of lighter-colored Berlin (Wisconsin) rhyolite (a volcanic
rock). Its massive, rectangular central tower is augmented by lesser
corner towers, beside which extend the building’s two imposing
wings. Covering all is a steeply-pitched, and thus highly-visible,
roof with extruding dormers. Round arches, “perhaps the most
consistent identifying element” of the style, accent outer doors
and windows (especially on the first, third, and fifth floors) and
grace the interior hallways. The large arch at the main entrance
is framed by imposing blocks of unfinished rhyolite, “to contrast
with the squat, polished column on either side.” Decorative use
of protruding and recessed brick provides detail on walls, turrets,
and arches.
The
grandness of the building’s physical character mirrors the prominence
of the academic traditions that it has housed. Originally Science
Hall was home for the sciences generally--geology, anatomy, geography,
physiology, zoology, botany, physics, engineering, meteorology,
and agriculture. Former university presidents worked here during
their scholarly years, including Charles R. Van Hise (geologist),
Thomas C. Chamberlain (geologist), and Edward A. Birge (botanist),
as well as former Chancellor David Ward (geographer). Science Hall
today is dedicated mostly to the Department of Geography, including
the Arthur H. Robinson Map Library, the Geography Library, and the
Cartography Laboratory, as well as home for the State Cartographer’s
Office and the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.
Both
an architectural and educational edifice, Science Hall also is tied
to the mysterious. Much of this part of its reputation results from
its castle-like appearance and its link to the campus system of
underground utility tunnels, but the former presence of the Department
of Anatomy contributes greatly to the building’s mystique. Over
the last twenty years, wandering graduate students have exhumed
from dusty and forgotten corners of the attics a set of leg bones of
a “tall
man” and an embalmed human foot. Samuel Rogers set his mystery
novel Don’t Look Behind You in Science Hall, as did authors
for First Comics’ The Phantom of Bascom Hill. Bats regularly
fly its vaulted hallways...
Think
of this richness as you explore Science Hall--a National Historic Landmark--look
at the plaque just above the sidewalk on the street. Admire the building’s
towered grandeur from down Langdon Street. Walk toward the structure,
and notice the magnificence of style--the turrets and dormers, the
arches and raised brick, the imposing roof. As you climb toward the
arched entrance, look for the neat blocks of rhyolite framing the basement,
the massive unfinished blocks bordering the stairs, and the polished
columns beside the wooden doors. Enter the building, and read, before
passing through the inner doors, the plaque commemorating the study
of geology in Science Hall.
Continue
up to the first floor landing, and take a few minutes to look around:
Turn and watch the light coming through the large stained glass
window over the doorway; note the plaque celebrating fifty years of
geographical inquiry in the building; delight in the scrollwork of
leaves and flowers on the pillars beside the elevator; count the arches
that adorn the halls and doorways. Climb the black-painted iron stairway.
As you do, notice the iron lattice that encloses the elevator and the
historic relief maps of central Utah and the state of California along
the walls. Once you reach the second floor landing, turn around
to see the underside of the metal stairs, with protruding rivets, and
the massive steel beam supporting the landing between the second
and third floors.
Continue
up, past still more relief maps, to the third floor, and wander down
the hall to the right, toward the State Cartographer's Office, passing
beneath the modified hallway arch. (At the end of the hall, you will
notice the Department’s GIS lab.) From a window looking out toward
the back of the building, you will see, at the rear corner, one of
the two circular turrets that rise up from the ground level to the
fourth floor, and two of the sixteen chimneys that once were part of
the building’s heating system. You may also see, close up, some
of the embellishment of brick on the exterior walls.
Then,
stroll back the way you came, through the hallway arch and down the
stairs, and think of the esteemed scholars who, for more than a century,
have walked these halls, and the thousands, even tens of thousands,
of students who have sought and found here, in formal lectures and
casual discussions, knowledge and wisdom. Imagine the mystery of the
place, the magnificence of story and myth, and be thankful that we
have still standing this great building, Science Hall.
Text
information and direct quotes are from Clarence W. Olmstead's "Science
Hall: The First Century", Department of Geography, University
of Wisconsin, Madison, 1987. Information prepared in the Department
of Geography by Thomas Vale, Professor of Geography, in April
1994, with minor revisions in September 1998 and December 2003.
