Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - History of the University (Nevins) [PAGE 303]

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284 ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY growth of its ivy; and it is still solidly useful. The occasional talk of its demolition is quickly checked by remembrance that at the busiest hours over 2,000 students and instructors are found there, and that many of the classes would be homeless without its rooms. Its museums are gone, its libraries have been taken to safer quarters, most offices have sought the light and air of Lincoln Hall and the Commerce Building, most of the girls* literary societies are in the Woman's Building; but it is still the recitation center. Next to it, as general centers, stand Engineering Hall, the Natural History Building,' and the Agricultural Building—each the focus .of a half dozen busy departments. Not one resembles another, yet the general effect, particularly as each is embowered in trees, is pleasing. The first, with its four stories, heavy stone base, and substantial lines, contributes to the proper atmosphere of a technical group. The second was long thought to have the bestdesigned exterior of any building on the campus, and with its many gables is still one of the prettiest. The sweeping level lines of the third, and the beautiful entrance f agade, harmonize with the wide stretch of lawn in the quadrangle before it; while it has been easy to add subsidiary structures at low cost. All the most pretentious buildings except*the Library date from later years—the Woman's Building, Lincoln Hall, and Physics Building. The Library is still the most distinguished piece of Romanesque architecture in the Mississippi Valley, and is in admirable relief to the boxlike outlines of University Hall at its elbow. Its tower of 132 feet is the highest point on the campus. The interior is as well designed as the exterior, for the delivery room, open to the roof, is lighted by a dome, and on the four sides are lunettes decorated