Library, 1932
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.
Architect - Eugene G. Groves, Bryan Construction Incorporated
Builder – C. E. Walker Construction Company of Denver (original), Lang-Murphy Construction Company (1982 elevator addition), Bryan Construction Incorporated
801 Oval Drive
Designed by Eugene G. Groves, this stately building served as the third library for the school from 1928 until 1965. Actually designed to be the “College Library”, it was built to replace the cramped and makeshift library in old Laurel Hall. The cornerstone was set into place on August 16, 1927. Construction went on through the fall and winter.
On April 6, 1928, a small army of workers began a weeklong process that moved the 57,000 books across the Oval from the old building into the new building. As part of the move, a history of the College Library written by Head Librarian Charlotte A. Baker was featured in the April 1928 issue of the C.A.C. Alumnus magazine. This appears to be the first building constructed on campus with a built-in freight elevator.
The first winter in the new building was cold. After weeks of not finding the problem, Dr. Lory came over and checked out the system. He discovered that construction crews had failed to install small motors in the Univents to run fans to circulate the warm air. Once this was done, the new building was quite comfortable. One problem the building continually experienced was ground water seepage in its basement as well as taking on large amounts of flood water in 1938, 1951 and 1997.
From 1928 until the new Agriculture Building was opened in 1940, the Animal Husbandry Department used part of this building for offices. They had been displaced by the barracks fire in 1927. The space was quickly filled with books upon their departure. Lack of space was a deep concern by the 1940s. In 1948, two rooms were emptied of books to create a Reserve Book Reading Room and lounge where students could carry on conversations. The books were moved into the newly opened Industrial Research Building for the next few years. Later the old Bishop Trainer Building, with its dirt floor served as a storage area for hundreds of boxes of mostly unused books acquired by Mr. Daniels during his tenure. These had to be removed in 1957 when that old military building was about to be converted to use by the Wood Science Department. Following WWII up until 1954, typing classes were held in rooms in the library. The loss of space as well as the movement of groups of students and the noise generated by the typewriters were a constant problem for Library staff and patrons. The typing classes were relocated to South Hall in 1954.
The building became known as the “Music Building” when it was turned over to the Department of Music in 1965 after the library operations were moved into the new William E. Morgan Library building. In the summer of 1968, a custom-made Casavant Fréres Organ consisting of 2096 pipes was installed in the building’s former large reading room or Great Hall. A passenger elevator was added to the building in October 1982 as several campus buildings were being upgraded to provide better accessibility. It served the Department of Music, Dance and Theatre until the summer of 2008 when they moved into the University Center for the Arts in the former Fort Collins High School building on Remington Street.
The building became the home to “The Institute for Learning and Teaching” (TILT)” and the “Center for Advising and Student Achievement” (CASA). TILT is an institute within the University that promotes direct interaction among students and teachers throughout the institution. CASA serves the office that works directly with students as they go through their initial orientation and provides advising to them during their time as students.
In 2009, the building received an extensive renovation, including restoration of the original “Reading Room” for student study and tutoring. The Russell George Great Hall, as it became known, was created to provide space for student tutoring and a place to help students find and connect with the services they need. The building was officially renamed the “TILT Building” in May 2009. During the summer of 2010 the entrance of the building was remodeled and had a handicap ramp added.
In June 2015, it was announced that an “academic wing” would be built on the east side of the new stadium. The “Center for Advising and Student Achievement” (CASA) moved into their newly constructed facilities during the summer of 2017. In 2015 a new Master Plan was published. It showed a large addition on the west side of the TILT Building.
Sources by Gordon A. Hazard
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Sources by Gordon A. Hazard
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