Spooner Hall

Spooner Hall, University of Kansas
Location 14th St. and Oread Ave. on the University of Kansas campus, Lawrence, Kansas
Coordinates 38°57′30″N 95°14′48″W / 38.95833°N 95.24667°W / 38.95833; -95.24667Coordinates: 38°57′30″N 95°14′48″W / 38.95833°N 95.24667°W / 38.95833; -95.24667
Area 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built 1894 (1894)
Architect Henry Van Brunt; John Cox
Architectural style Southern Romanesque Revival
NRHP Reference # 74000832[1]
Added to NRHP July 15, 1974

Spooner Hall was built in 1893-94 as the University of Kansas' first library building. The Richardsonian Romanesque structure was designed by architect Henry Van Brunt and built with funds bequathed by William B. Spooner, a Massachusetts leather merchant who had a family connection to the university. As originally built, the building housed a reading room on the ground floor and meeting space on the upper level, with book stacks in a five story section.[2]

Spooner Hall was constructed of rough-faced gray limestone blocks quarried in the immediate vicinity. A red Dakota sandstone accents quoins, columns, beltlines and sills. The roof is a steeply pitched gable with clay tile roof covering, accented by a sculpted owl on the peak of the western gable. The original interior was completely modified for use as an art gallery.[2]

In 1924 Spooner Hall was superseded by a new library. In 1926 the building became the Spooner-Thayer Museum of Art. Later renamed the University of Kansas Museum of Art, the collection moved into the Spencer Museum of Art in 1978.[3] It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 15, 1974.[1] The building presently houses anthropology collections and acts as a conference center.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 Hall, Charles (October 30, 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Spooner Hall" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Spooner Hall". Historic Mount Oread Fund. University of Kansas. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. ↑ McCool, John H. "Spooner or Later". KU Memorial Unions. Retrieved 29 January 2014.

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