Education Building

The Education Building was constructed in 1964 "as a 'foil' between the two massive Gregorian buildings [Natural Resources and Commerce West] and as a transition to the more contemporary buildings to the west and proposed contemporary buildings to the east". The November 6, 1964 dedication was followed by a 2-day open house, from 8AM to 10PM on Friday and 8AM to 5PM on Saturday. [1] Prior to the building's construction, the College had been spread across 27 campus buildings. [2]

Funding for construction was provided through the 1960 Illinois bond issue and cost $3,311,177, including fixed equipment costs. It offered 95,000 square feet, housing 43 laboratories and workrooms, 3 lounges, a library, a "television control center", and a counseling center. [3] Architecture professor A. Richard Williams designed the building in conjunction with the firm of Lundeen and Hilfinger. [4]

Despite its new building, by 1968 the College of Education was "scattered in eighteen buildings distributed over the Urbana-Champaign campus, with the majority of the special education and research activities being conducted in old houses that have only minimal facilities because they are scheduled for razing". The University had even been forced to acquire several buildings along "the perimeter of campus" as temporary housing to accommodate the increasing student enrollment in the College. In an attempt to consolidate its operations to a single location, the University investigated the construction of a second facility to be located immediately beside the existing building, but ultimately decided against it. [5]