The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-01-01
The College Buildings at Orono. .

Through the reports of the Trustees, the
| condition and wants of the State College at
1 Orono, so far as relates to building or to
I interior appliances and forces, in the way OF
1 apparatus, books. instructors-are from time
| to time made known to the people of the
State. To show what is imperatively needed
l in the way of additional accommodation for
| college purposes, we must first make our
| readers to understand just what buildings
| the institution is now provided with, and in
| order to do this little retrospection is nee
1 essary.
No blame is to be attached to the original
l Board of Trustees for building in 1867 what
| is now known as "White HalP' in the man.
ner in which they did. Everything was new,
l and few persons, least of all the Trustees OF
| the College-judging from this building,
| which is a monument of their folly-had any
| conception of what the college was, or what
l it was proposed to make it. And so "White
Hail." then called dormitory, came to be
built. 1t was originally intended for stu
dents rooms, and contained, exclusive of a
| few small rooms in the attic, twelve rooms.
l AS the number of students increased, this
building was, after the erection of the brick
| dormitorY in 1871, used for class or recitation
| purposes, four rooms on the lower floor hay
| ing been changed into two. in order to afford
| rooms for the classes in mechanical engineer
| tory, built in 1871, is a building of fair pro-
| portions and creditable appearance. contain
4 ing forty-eight rooms. There is also upon
| the grounds small building for the exclu-
| sive use of the literary society connected with
1 the college, which was built by the students
| themselves. There are, besides, the barns,
stables, &C., five dwellings for President and
| professors; and then we come to the labora-
l tory building shown in the engraving.
Il -,
| pleted in 1870. 1t was patterned after the
| celebrated laboratory connected with Brown
l University, Cat the time it was built the best
| building of its kind in the country although
| containing some advantages over that struc-
| ture. At the right as you enter the first
| room is the private apartment of the Pro-
| fessor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering,
| and in the rear of this Con the south side J
| the private working room of the Professor
l of Chemistry. On the left the first room is
| used for a library, and the second for the
| class recitations in mathematics. On the
| second floor south are two rooms devoted to
the collections in natural History; and the
| entire north half is appropriated to chapel,
| lecturesand recitation purposes. In the attic
1 is small, il-arranged room-in which the
| students can hardly stand up straight-used
1 as an armory. The rear projection is the
| general or students laboratory, in which
| there are eight working tables or accommo-
dations for thirty-two students. This build
| ing, be it understood, was originally intende d
l as a laboratory alone. and for the exclusive
| use of the professors and students in the de-
| partment of chemistry. But see to what
uses, in the absence of any other accommo-
l dations, it has to be put: library, already
| overcrowded and giving hardly room for the
| passages in which to turn round; cabinet
rooms for the display tat disadvantage be-
l cause sufficient roo-c is not given) of collec-
| tions in natural history, recitation room for
l the class in mathematics never intended to
occupy the room it does; chapel, driven into
/ small lecture room; besides serving as an
armory and general storage warehouse. And
I yet this one building, so overcrowded, and
u serving-on a pinch-so many purposes-is
4 the only college building of any character
upon the ground; or leaving out the little
4 "White Hail." which comprises two or three
small, narrow, poorly lighted and i'll venti-
/ lated recitation rooms, but for which it could
be left out as well as not, and is the only
building for strictly college purposes which
| Orono can boast.
| The State College has now about one hun
| dred and fifteen students; and it is sadly
| equipped in the way of proper and suitable
buildings for college and recitation purposes.
| The class ROOMS are small, poorly ventilated,
poorly lighted, and every way inconvenient,
| because not intended for the purpose which
| they serve. The other rooms for college pur-
| poses, all over-crowded, are too small for their
| present uses, for which they were not origin
| ally planned. We do not know the designs
| of the trustees in the matter, nor what rec
concentrations they propose to submit to the
| Legislature; but it seems to us from what has
been explained above in regard to the build
| ings now at the college and their uses, that
| no sensible man, knowing the number OF
| scholars and the rooms and apartments which
| they require, and what are needed for other
uses, but what would say that new and
commodious structure for college purposes
| was imperativey demanded by the best inter-
ests of all concerned. A building for libra
| ry, cabinet of natural history, chapel and rec
itation rooms is demanded by all considera-
tions of health, the carrying out of the proper
| work of the college, and the best interests Of
| the students. No better time than the pres
ent can be found for commencing the erection
| of such a building, and we are satisfied the
| farmers and mechanics of the state will back
| up the trustees in asking and the Legislature
~ granting such building -- Maine Fdrn1er