Conservatory of Music, c.1917
From CSU's Sense of Place: A Campus History of Colorado's Land-Grant University, by James E. Hansen, Gordon A. Hazard, and Linda M. Meyer. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University, 2018.
Architects – Otto Bulow of Pueblo, James W. Lawrence, James Cassidy, Lord & Burnham Greenhouse Company
Builders – Adams and Ellis
151 West Laurel Street
Planning for Botanical and Horticultural Laboratory began in the spring of 1889. It was conceptually designed by Professor of Engineering James W. Lawrence and Professor of Horticulture James Cassidy to be built for a cost of $5000. Otto Bulow of Pueblo provided the detailed architectural plans and specifications for the “Folk Victorian Cottage” style building. Builders Adams and Ellis were hired and the building was completed in May 1890. A greenhouse designed by the Lord & Burnham Greenhouse Company was attached to the south end of the building for the first couple of years. Part of the building was used as an annex of the overcrowded College Library in the Main Building starting in 1894.
Following the opening of the new Horticulture Building just west down Laurel Street, this building was remodeled in 1895 to meet the needs of Domestic Economy Department. Mrs. Eliza P. Routt, wife of the first Governor of the State of Colorado and the first woman to serve on the State Board of Agriculture, led the way to secure the use of this building for the study of Domestic Sciences at Colorado Agricultural College. She was instrumental in obtaining the funds to build Guggenheim Hall of the Household Arts which opened in 1910 to open this building for new tenants.
In 1910, this building was taken over by the Conservatory of Music under the direction and guidance of Professor Alexander Emslie and his wife. In the spring of 1924, the original chimneys were removed as heat was being supplied by a steam line from the Central Heating Plant that began supplying steam in the fall of 1916. From 1937 to 1965, the newly created Department of Music utilized this facility. They moved out and over to the Library Building on the west side of the Oval in 1965 after the Morgan Library had opened. For a while, it was called the “Old Music Building” on campus maps. The College of Veterinary Medicine used it for the next several years and called it the “Veterinary Science Annex”. During this time it was sometimes referred to as the “Anatomy Annex”.
In the fall of 1978, the building became listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Despite this, in June 1984, the State Board of Agriculture placed the building along with two others on a list of buildings to be razed. This did not happen. Funds were found to stabilize and renovate this historic building and in May 1998, the State Board of Agriculture voted to give the building a permanent name. In October 1999, it was officially renamed “Routt Hall” to honor Eliza Pickrell Routt during a rededication ceremony held during Homecoming weekend. Members of the Routt family came to the ceremony.
Routt Hall now houses the offices of the College of Health and Human Sciences’ Institute for the Built Environment and graduate students in the Department of Construction Management. It is one of the most visible historic buildings on the campus as it is situated at intersection of South College Avenue and West Laurel Street.
Sources by Gordon Hazard
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, April 4, 1889, page 99.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 9, 1889, page 105.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 7, 1889, pages 116-117.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 12, 1889, pages 136-137.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 14, 1890, page 153.
“Register of the Officers and Students of The State Agricultural College, Fort Collins, Colorado, Courses of Instruction. 1889-1890”, pp. 32 and 62.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 12, 1890, page 184.
12th Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture for the year 1890, pages 10 and 83-84.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, April 17, 1891, page 207.
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State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 11, 1891, page 257.
“Register of the Officers and Students of The State Agricultural College, Fort Collins, Colorado, Courses of Study and General Information. 1891-1892”, p. 65.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, August 2, 1893, page 348.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, August 3, 1893, page 353.
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State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 8, 1894, pages 411-412.
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“Register of the Officers and Students of The State Agricultural College, Fort Collins, Colorado, Courses of Study and General Information. 1893-1894”, pp. 65 – 66 and photo plate.
State Board of Agriculture Minutes, April 30, 1895, page 465.
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State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 7, 1895, pages 484-485.
“The State Agricultural College Department of Domestic Economy Announcement” by Theodosia Ammons, 1895, LD1146, C58, 1893/99, Archive.
“1895 Silver Spruce”, vol. 1, History of the State Agricultural College and the Library.
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Rocky Mountain Collegian, October 2, 1903, page 7, vol. XIII, number 1.
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“Chiron’s Time: A History of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University”, 1983, by J. Dennis McGuire and James E. Hansen II, pp. 18-20, SF777 .M38 1983 ARCHIVE.
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“Democracy’s University – A History of Colorado State University 1970 – 2003” by James E. Hansen II, 2007, pp. 100, 166.
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