History

History (appropriately): Harris Hall was named after Norman Wait Harris (1846-1916), founder of Harris Bank (Chicago), philanthropist, trustee and benefactor. It was built in 1914 to accommodate the departments of history, political science and economics. Most recently, the building housed primarily the Department of History, classrooms and a few other occupants.

Harris Hall, an official Evanston landmark, was designed in the Neoclassical Revival style, by renown American architect Charles Coolidge (1858-19360), of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge (Boston). Locally, he also designed the Chicago Public Library (1892), presently known as the Chicago Cultural Center, the Art Institute of Chicago (1892), and the 35-room Joseph Medill residence (1897, Wheaton, IL, now known as the Robert R. McCormick residence).

The building, in remarkably good condition for it's age, has only seen minor remodeling and, of course, maintenance. Recognizing the necessity to bring the building to modern standards of safety and comfort the University funded a comprehensive renovation project in early 2007. A first step was the organization of a Building Committee, comprised of Dept. of History faculty and representatives from University administration, the Provost's office, and Facilities Management. As a second step, McGuire Igleski & Associates (Evanston, IL), historic preservation architects, were hired to document and assess the historic elements of the building.

Next came the work of selecting a suitable architectural firm to prepare a comprehensive Program of Requirements and design drawings. In June, 2007 four highly respected and qualified firms were invited to submit proposals:

~ Booth Hansen & Associates
~ Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge Architects
~ Destefano + Partners
~ Weese Langley Weese Architects

After considerable evaluation (all the firms were emminently qualified), the University hired Weese Langley Weese Architects and work began to identify and catalog the programmatic needs for the building. This process involved numerous meetings between the Building Committee and architects and culminated in February, 2008 with a final Program of Requirements. The Program included two additions to the building in order to meet the space needs of the Dept. of History, the Center for Historical Studies, and Registrar's classrooms. A garden level addition, on the south end of Harris Hall, will accommodate the Center for Historical Studies and a Seminar Room for the Dept. of History. The roof of this addition will serve as a new terrace, accessible from room 108 (the wood paneled room that architect Dan Weese refers to as "the treaty room"). The other addition will be a subterranean mechanical room on the west side of Harris Hall. The existing west stairs will be removed, a deep basement built and new stairs and sidewalk installed as a roof. The building will be equipped with new heating and cooling systems, an elevator, and contemporary life-safety systems (i.e. fire alarm, sprinklers). Additionally, the building will be LEED certified.

The Department of History, WCAS IT, and International Program Development moved out of Harris Hall at the end of the Fall Quarter, 2008. In early January, Colfax Corporation began interior demolition and asbestos abatement. At the time of this writing, the architects remain busy in the final preparation of construction drawings. In the coming weeks, AMS Mechanical Systems Inc. will begin re-routing steam and chilled water pipes to make room for the two additions. The general construction work will begin in spring.

I am inveterate, if not compulsive, photographer and have carried a camera with me, pretty much all the time, since I was 15. I have starting shooting video recently. I have managed to take nearly 800 photos and video clips in and around Harris Hall since the inception of the project. Since I am rather late to begin a photo blog about the Harris Hall project, I decided to make a movie from the materials I have collected. There are two options for you to view the movie. You can watch the Vimeo hosted version below (low resolution) or download a high resolution copy HERE (click "save file") and watch it on your computer (preferably in full screen mode). In any case, turn up the sound on your computer before starting the movie. Stay tuned . . . more to come. -John


Before The Move from John Brzezinski on Vimeo.