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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHannon Hall (24GA1872) final MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD For the Montana National Register of Historic Places Program and State Antiquities Database Montana State Historic Preservation Office Montana Historical Society PO Box 201202, 1410 8 th Ave Helena, MT 59620-1202 Property Address: Montana State University Campus S. 7 th St. btw Cleveland & Arthur Historic Address (if applicable): Same City/Town: Bozeman Site Number: 24GA1872 (An historic district number may also apply.) County: Gallatin Historic Name: Hannon Hall Original Owner(s): Montana State Collge of Agriculture & Mechanic Arts Current Ownership Private Public Current Property Name: Hannon Hall Owner(s): Montana State University (MSU) - Admin. Owner Address: 201 Main Hall / PO Box 172440 Bozeman, MT 59717-2440 Phone: 406-994-2001 Legal Location PM: Montana Township: 2S Range: 5E SW ¼ NW ¼ NE ¼ of Section: 13 Lot(s): Block(s): 20 Addition: Capitol Hill Year of Addition: 1890 USGS Quad Name: Bozeman Year: 1987 Historic Use: Residence Hall (Women's) Current Use: Same Construction Date: 1955 Estimated Actual Original Location Moved Date Moved: UTM Reference www.nris.mt.gov/topofinder2 NAD 27 or NAD 83(preferred ) Zone: 12 Easting: 496416 Northing: 5057219 National Register of Historic Places NRHP Listing Date: Historic District: Montana State University-Bozeman HD NRHP Eligible: Yes No Date of this document: December 31, 3012 Form Prepared by: Jessie Nunn (consultant) Address: 600 Meadowlark Lane, Livingston, MT 59047 Daytime Phone: 406-208-8727 MT SHPO USE ONLY Eligible for NRHP: x yes no Criteria: x A B x C D Date: October 2013 Evaluator: K. Hampton Comments: MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 2 Architectural Description Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Architectural Style: Other: If Other, specify: Modern Property Type: Education Specific Property Type: Residence Hall Architect: Fred F. Willson (supervising architect) / Bozeman, MT Architectural Firm/City/State: Cushing & Terrell / Billings, MT (plans & specifications) Builder/Contractor: NA Company/City/State: Lovering Construction Company, St. Paul, MT (general); Savage Pluming & Service, Bozeman, MT (pumbing); Bozeman Electric Company, Bozeman, MT (electric) Source of Information: MSU Building Master List; University Archives Setting and Location Within the overall campus plan, Hannon Hall, the Quadrangle (1935), Hapner Hall (1959) and Hamilton Hall (1910) create a cluster of women’s dormitories around the 1926 Woman’s Building (Herrick Hall). An expansive lawn is located between the south elevation of Hannon Hall and the parking lot in front of Roberts Hall, which marks the eastern terminus of campus’s Centennial Mall. Greek houses and single family homes are found east of Hannon Hall across S. 6 th Avenue. Summary Hannon Hall is a brick-clad, re-enforced concrete building with three full stories, a full daylight basement and a partial sub- basement designed in the Modern style, likely by Billings firm Cushing & Terrell (later CTA) with construction administered by Fred F. Willson (a practice continued to the present). Completed in 1955, it has an irregular trapezoidal footprint with only the east elevation and the first story of the south elevation built along the cardinal directions. The west elevation, which contains the main entrance, runs northwest from its south end and the north elevation runs northeast from its west end. The four elevations create a trapezoidal interior courtyard with the following dimensions: 111’ (west), 78’ (north), 116” (east) and 48’ (south). The building has a flat roof with boxed overhanging eaves on most elevations. A one-story section containing the main entrance, lobby, kitchen, dining room and service areas wraps around the entire south elevation and southwest and southeast corners of the building. The second and third stories are set back approximately 20’ at the southwest corner of building, 50’ at the southeast corner and 40’ along the south end of the east elevation. The one-story portion of the building and the stair tower entrances are clad in brown brick, while the main building is covered in a polychrome mixture of blond and red brick, with both sections laid in common bond. Interestingly, the color contrast represents different interior uses, with darker brick signaling public or service spaces, and the polychrome brick signaling the dormitory’s private residential rooms. West Elevation The west elevation is 117’ long x 38’ wide on its main section and contains the building’s main entrance at its southern end. The 47’ wide one-story main entrance section has no overhanging eave and extends approximately 28’ west from the main building. It contains a recessed pair of glass doors with a large sidelight and transom all framed in aluminum centered in its northern half. A lower, 17' wide flat canopy supported by three wide brick columns on the north (creating a modern style screen) and one column on the south extends another 12’ over the north half of the entrance section. Modern style cylindrical lamps light the concrete landing leading to the entrance. Above the entrance, the roofline of the one-story section is broken and flush with the canopy. To the south of the entrance is a brick wall interrupted only by a single rectangular metal vent. The south end of this section terminates in a slightly setback window wall created with a large stationary aluminum light under a small light, all above a brick knee-wall and under an overhanging boxed eave. This marks the beginning of the public lobby space that continues along the south elevation. The north-facing wall of the entrance contains two sets of ribbon-style, double hung aluminum windows and leads to a secondary entrance recessed within the main portion of the building. This entrance contains a single wood door with three vertically-arranged square lights, a side light to the south and a transom. The remainder of the west elevation is a solid wall of polychrome brick punctured regularly by flush aluminum windows. The two stories above the one-story entrance contain four window bays with a large stationary light flanked by two-light casement units in the southernmost bay and three light windows (with awning units for the lower light) in the remaining three bays. A break in fenestration occurs above and to the north of the secondary entrance indicating a storage room and one of the building’s two elevators. The remainder of the elevation contains six evenly-spaced window bays on each of the three stories (there is no daylight basement here), all of which contain lager stationary lights flanked by two-light casement units lighting individual dorm rooms. The sole exception is the two southernmost first-story windows, which contain three light units that light the bedroom of a suit and a public men’s restroom. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 3 Architectural Description Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 North Elevation A dark brick stair tower is found at the northwest corner of Hannon Hall. It makes up the western end of the north elevation and extends 14’ east from the west elevation. The entrance is contained in a curtain wall of glass and paneling in the south facing wall between the west elevation and the west end of the south elevation. It contains its original double wood doors with three vertically arranged square lights. A matching single door is located west of the double doors. Two horizontal panels separate the doors from the first span of glass, which contains a large stationary light and a one-over- one double-hung unit, both of which are capped by a “transom” light. An identical span of glass between paired horizontal panels is found above this. The curtain wall entrance is protected by a boxed overhanging eave that continues from the west elevation. In contrast, the 42’ long west end of the north elevation is a solid brick wall with a slight parapet and no eave. “HANNON HALL” is written in individual metal letters on this wall near the entrance. The polychrome brick north elevation is 143’ long, is protected by a boxed overhanging eave and contains twelve evenly- spaced bays on each of its four stories containing aluminum windows. The outer bays light service rooms and contain three light awning units, while the remainder light individual dorm rooms and contain large stationary lights flanked by two- light casement units. The only exception is the four westernmost bays of the first story which light a residential suite. Here, one-over-one units flank two bays with stationary lights and casement units. The 45’ west-facing wall (part of the north end of the long east elevation) is similar to the north elevation and contains four window bays. Three light awing units are located in the southernmost bay, while the remaining bays contain large lights flanked by casement units. Daylight basement windows are nearly identical to full story windows on both elevations, but the stationary lights and casement windows are not as tall and the awning windows have only two lights. The 40’ north end of the east elevation contains a lounge on each of its four stories, which are well lit with two bays of paired stationary panes and casement units. East Elevation The 219’ east elevation is Hannon Hall’s longest. Its surface is broken by a dark brick entrance stair tower located about 47’ from the north end and the one-story extension containing the dormitory’s kitchen and service area on its south end. The elevation has four window bays with stationary lights flanked by casement units north of the 20’ x 9’ solid brick stair tower, which contains a curtain wall entrance in its north-facing wall. This curtain wall is similar to that found in the stair tower of the west elevation, but not as complex. It includes double wood doors with three horizontal square lights and a transom at the entrance level and single solid horizontal panels at each landing separating three spans of glass with two elongated lights and two “transom” lights on each story. The curtain wall is protected by a boxed overhanging eave, while the remainder of the stair tower has an eave-less, parapeted roofline. Eight window bays are located between the stair tower and the protruding one-story kitchen and service area, all of which contain large stationary lights flanked by casement units on the three full stories, except the northernmost bay which has three light awning units. Small awning or hopper windows are found at the basement level in these bays until this story is obscured by a concrete loading dock, which is protected by a shed-roofed canopy. There are five window bays on the second and third stories of the main section of the building above the one-story kitchen and service section. From south to north these include three stationary lights flanked by casement windows and two three light awning units. The north-facing wall of the one-story addition is dominated by the continuation of the concrete loading dock (there is no canopy on this elevation), but also include a four light aluminum window to the east and an elevated entrance with double doors at its west end. Multiple light aluminum windows and metal vents puncture the north end of the east-facing wall, while the southern half is solid brick. South Elevation On the south elevation, the main portion of the building contains nine bays on its second and third stories, all of which contain large stationary panes flanked by two light casement units. The protruding dark brick, one-story section contains the dining room to the east end and the main lounge to the west. Both are well lit by recessed curtain walls of glass above a brick knee wall, broken only by entrances and a solid brick wall in the center that visual separates the dining and lobby areas. The walls are divided into sections by squared concrete columns, while the lights are divided by wood mullions. The area east of the brick wall has nine sections. Immediately to the east, there is a slender section with a full length window wall of three lights and an entrance which contains double solid wood doors with a transom and three-light sidelight. The remaining sections contain two columns of lights above a brick knew wall: a slimmer column containing three identical lights, and a wider column with a lower light that covers two-thirds of the space and an upper light covering the remaining one-third. The configuration of these columns is flipped in alternating sections. West of the brick wall, the configuration of lights is similar with slight variations. It is divided into five sections, with an entrance immediately west of the brick wall. The entrance contains double solid wood doors with a transom and a sidelight with two lights above a wood panel. Remaining sections include two columns of lights: one containing a large stationary pane taking up three-fourths of the area and an upper pane covering the remaining space and the other, which is much slimmer, containing four lights in MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 4 Architectural Description Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 the lower three-fourths of the window wall and a single light in upper one-fourth. The configuration of lights is again flipped in alternating sections. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 5 History of Property Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 HISTORY OF PROPERTY Development of Montana State University Campus Montana State University was founded on February 16, 1893 (four years after statehood) as Montana’s land grant college under the Morrill Act of 1862. It has the distinction of being Montana’s first legislatively-created public university, with the University of Montana in Missoula being created the following day. Initially called the Agricultural College of the State of Montana, the new college was situated on a 200-acre site, part of which had been platted as the Capital Hill Addition in a (failed) bid for the State Capital. Bozeman citizens raised funds to purchase half the land, and Gallatin County donated the other half, which included the County poor farm. The first purpose-built building on campus was the Agricultural Experiment Station (Taylor Hall) constructed in 1894. Main Hall (or Montana Hall), the centerpiece of the campus, was completed in 1898. The construction of the Neo-classical Revival style Agricultural Building (Linfield Hall) in 1907 further illustrated the primary role of agriculture at Montana State. In 1913, the college was renamed the Montana State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (MSC). The college anticipated a period of expansion after World War I, and contracted with Montana architect, George Carsley, and nationally-known landscape architect, Cass Gilbert, to develop a campus plan, now known as the “1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan.” This plan, which exhibited a formal Beaux-Arts symmetry, was adopted by the Montana State Board of Education in 1920 and guided campus development until the outbreak of World War II. Its implementation was assisted by a $5 million bond to fund building development programs on all of Montana’s campuses. At MSC this resulted in the construction of several Italian Renaissance Revival buildings, including Roberts Hall, Traphagen Hall, Lewis Hall, Harrick Hall, Romney Gymnasium and the Heating Plant. MSC continued to grow and evolve during the Great Depression and Word War II. This was spurred in part by the growth of the Extension Service under the New Deal’s Agricultural Adjustment Administration, an increase in unemployed students who enrolled in the years from 1932 to 1939 and expanded military training (including a flight school) during World War II. The 1935 “Quads,” a women’s dormitory financed through the Works Progress Administration, and the oldest portion of the Student Union, completed in 1940, were the era’s most significant additions to campus. Both were designed by Bozeman architect, Fred F. Willson, in the Tudor Revival style. Slight deviations from the 1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan during the mid-1940s resulted from a desire for new buildings alongside a need to curb paving and heating costs by reducing the space between buildings. Along with colleges and universities across the nation, MSC expanded to accommodate students attending college under the “GI Bill” after World War II. The square footage of campus buildings doubled in the following decades. At this time, further departures were also made from the 1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan as growth demanded expansion beyond its boundaries and within its open spaces. The Renne Library (1949) and the small Danforth Chapel (1952), MSC’s first Modern style building, were the era’s earliest additions to campus but several others followed during the 1950s and early 1960s. Four Mid-Century Modern dormitories were added to the northern end of campus and new academic buildings, including Reid Hall and the Math-Physics Building (AJM Johnson Hall), were erected in open spaces south of Garfield Street. Several older buildings also received significant Modern style additions, including Linfield and Lewis Halls. The result of this new construction was a campus showcasing a dynamic blend of revivalist and modernist styles. The college was re-named Montana State University (MSU) in 1965, and the high-rise dormitories (Hedges and Roskie Halls) that would symbolize the modern era were completed by 1967. More buildings were added in the 1970s as MSU replaced all of its temporary frame buildings with permanent structures. Growth slowed during the 1980s through the beginning of the 21 st century in the core campus area, although a few new buildings (Visual Communications, the EPS Building and the Chemistry & Biochemistry Building) were added. Many older buildings have also undergone significant alterations in recent decades. Perhaps the greatest addition to campus during the contemporary period was Centennial Mall along what was once Garfield Street. In providing a strong east-west linear focus, the well-landscaped pedestrian mall was actually a return to the axial arrangement of 1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan. Today the MSU campus represents a blend of early formal planning, post-war expansion and contemporary buildings that respond to current needs. It offers an excellent example of the evolution of campus planning in Montana. (Burlingame, in passim; Painter, Montana Property Record Form for Langford Hall.) MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 6 History of Property Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Campus Housing in the Post-World War II Era “The greatest single need at MSC right now is dormitory space,” President Ronald R. Renne told the Montana Collegian in January 1954, adding, “enrollment….is even now below what it should be because of insufficient dormitory space.” (4). In fact, student housing had long been a pressing issue at Montana State. The policy of housing freshmen women on campus had necessitated the construction of Hamilton Hall in 1911 and the Quads in 1935, but by the end of World War II residential space for women was already insufficient. Male students wishing to live on campus were in an even more desperate situation, with only temporary Quonset hut dormitories available. As early as 1945, President Renne was requesting the financing of men’s and women’s permanent dormitories, explaining, “male students are particularly in need of a residence hall, where freshman may receive their college education, as far as social and scholastic supervision is concerned.” Enrollment projections suggested the housing situation would only worsen in the near future. While enrollment dropped slightly in the early 1950s from its all-time high of 3,889 students in 1947-1848, MSC was expected to have 4,000 students by 1960 and 6,000 by 1970. (Burlingame, 189-190). This expected growth was due to a climbing birth rate, migration to Montana, an increasing percentage of young people attending college, continued encouragement of veterans to attend college and the rise of graduate student enrollment. ( Montana Collegian, 3) President Renne’s call for more dormitories at MSC clearly needed to be met, and soon. The State of Montana stepped up to fund the expansion of its six colleges in the years following World War II, with an increase of the higher education mill levy from 3.5 mills to 6 mills in 1948 and the passage of a $5 million bond in 1952. With their share of the latter, MSC was able to construct the Math-Physics Building (A.J.M. Johnson Hall), additions to Linfield Hall and the Ryon Engineering Labs, a Veterinary Research Lab, the Service Shop (Pew Building) and two greenhouses. The State, however, was unwilling to fund the construction of dormitories, which were considered income- producing properties. (Burlingame, 186, 189-190). The colleges would have to seek other public and private funding for dormitories. As Merrill G. Burlingame explains in A History: Montana State University , at MSC, President Renne called for an “open end” financing plan, in which: …all revenue producing buildings, including dormitories and the student union, as well as student building fees were grouped together, with all bonds sharing the same revenue. This made the bonds more attractive to buyers and larger amounts could be borrowed at lower interest rates.” (190). Even though all dorms would be constructed with outside funding, Montana’s colleges still had to receive approval from the State Board of Education for their construction programs. At their December 18, 1953 meeting in Missoula, the Board approved Item 14923, “Construction of Dormitories, Montana State College” which allowed for a women’s dormitory not to exceed $1,300,00 and a men’s dormitory not to exceed $1,200,000. (Board Minutes, 12/18/1953). Eventually, the Board approved an increase to $4.6 million and the men’s dormitory was doubled to house 600 students. (Burlingame, 190). With the Board’s approval in-hand, all MSC needed was a lender to get construction moving. President Renne had hoped to secure funding for both dormitories from the Federal Housing and Home Financing Agency (FHFA), but the application was deferred in February of 1954, “based on the amount of funds already on loan to Montana institutions as compared with its percentage of the national college population.” (Durkee to Renne, 2/8/1954). The agency was willing to reconsider the application during the next fiscal year, but for President Renne the housing situation at MSC could not wait. He quickly pulled together a commercial loan through the Boettcher and Company of Denver and the Commercial National Bank in Bozeman. Apparently the terms of the loan were quite favorable as evidenced by a July 1954 letter to President Renne from the FHFA requesting the formal cancellation of MSC’s funding application. In it, area representative L. R. Durkee wrote, “I want to congratulate you on the successful closing of the commercial loan. Your deal was the best that has come to our attention.” (Durkee to Renne, 7/19/1954). With the financing secured, work could finally start on the much needed men’s and women’s dormitories at MSC. Hannon Hall In November of 1953, President Renne invited 12 students and faculty members to serve on a planning committee chaired by Dean Easter Brown, with the purpose of drawing up, “a general statement which would serve as a basis for securing State Board of Education approval and working out the necessary arrangements, employing an architect, and getting the building underway.” (Renne to Brown, et al.). Responding quickly, the committee recommended a three-story, re-enforced concrete building of “contemporary” design to provide residential and food services to 300 students. The site of the building, according to the committee, should either be between 6th and 7th Avenues and Cleveland and Arthur MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 7 History of Property Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Streets, or between 7th and 8th Avenues and Cleveland and Harrison Streets, an area then occupied by women’s Quonset dormitories. (Brown to Renne, 12/2/1953.) The living conditions of the Quonsets were one of the most compelling arguments for a new women’s dormitory, with Dean Brown writing in the FHFA loan application: The Quonset Huts now used to house women are substandard dormitories, which were built to serve an emergency post-war need, and should be abandoned. [They] are: (1) a fire hazard owing to having windows and doors only at the ends…(2) unsuitable to Montana winter owing to difficulties in heating and ventilation; (3) without laundry facilities; (4) without food and dining services…Numerous students go elsewhere to college, or do not go to college at all, owing to our substandard and inadequate student housing. (Application for Loan, 12/17/1953) In short, the Quonset dorms were losing students, and were not worthy of the image Montana State hoped to project in the second half of the 20 th century. Fortunately, Dean Brown and Montana State’s female students, would not have to wait long to see the start of construction on a new women’s dormitory. With the Board of Education’s approval and a favorable commercial loan in place, President Renne saw fit to move forward with construction plans. The Billings, Montana architectural firm Cushing & Terrell was selected to design the building, and Fred F. Willson, Bozeman’s most prominent architect, would supervise construction at the committee’s first site recommendation—presumably leaving the substandard Quonsets intact for at least one more year. (Renne to Whalen, 3/10/1954). The Lovering Construction Company of St. Paul, Minnesota received the general contract, while the plumbing / heating and electrical contracts went to the local firms of Savage Plumbing and Heating Service and the Bozeman Electric Company, respectively. (Renne to Nerve, 7/22/1954). Construction began on July 27, 1954. (Progress Report, 3/31/1955). The name “Hannon Hall,” which honored Olga Ross Hannon, a longtime director of the Art Department, was already associated with the building by the time excavations began. (Burlingame to Renne, 4/9/1954). Dean Brown’s committee remained heavily involved with the planning and construction process, drafting a six-page detailed plan to President Renne after their January 12, 1954 meeting. The plan reflects the desired lifestyle of freshmen women in the 1950s as well as faculty perceptions of how their female students should be living. For instance, the plan suggested closets large enough to accommodate 10 pairs of shoes, 1 or 2 formal dresses, school clothes and ski clothes, while bathrooms and informal lounges should be situated so that students need not put on “street clothes” to reach them. To the faculty’s surprise the students were uninterested in a recreation room or soda vending machines, much preferring a music room with a piano, radio and record player and kitchenettes where they could make coffee and heat soup. (Detailed Plan, 1/1954). Clothing storage continued to be a concern throughout construction, with Dean Brown drafting a memorandum in October of 1955 calling for special closet space for the “voluminous formal dresses now fashionable” and for closet hooks to hang articles of clothing and shoe bags. (Memorandum, 10/1955). Most interesting, however, is how the planning processes for Hannon Hall starkly contrasted with the planning for the simultaneously constructed men’s dormitory (Lewis & Clark Hall), which seemed to favored expedience over student and faculty input. This indicates a gender bias, with female students being perceived as having special needs, particularly in regards to privacy and fashion. Hannon Hall was completed in the fall of 1955 at a cost of $1,281,000. (Master Building List). The 1956-1957 budget projected the new dormitory would be profitable, which was essential to the success of President Renne’s “open end” financing plan. A net income of $52,426 was expected from the food department and another $23,677 was anticipated in the dormitory department from room charges ($60 and $75 per quarter) and the use of the dorm during 4-H Congress and the Chemistry Institute. Today, Hannon Hall continues to serve its original purpose as a women’s dormitory. Cushing & Terrell The Billings firm of Cushing & Terrell, also known as Cushing, Terrell and Associates, is now called CTA. Cushing & Terrell was founded in 1938, when partners Ralph Cushing and Everett Terrell joined forces. Ralph Henry Cushing was born in Dillon, Montana on January 16, 1903. He was educated at Montana State College, from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture in 1927. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1932. He worked for others, apprenticing in architecture and engineering, before establishing the firm of Cushing, Terrell and Associates in 1938. Cushing’s partner Edwin O. Terrell was born in Billings, Montana on February 11, 1908. He was educated at the University of Washington, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture in 1931. His first listed architectural employment was with Cushing, Terrell and Associates. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 8 History of Property Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Cushing, Terrell and Associates had an established reputation in Montana at mid-century, based on extensive work in the areas of education (schools and university buildings) and healthcare (hospitals and related structures). They also designed numerous buildings for state and local governments. Additional building types undertaken by the firm included commercial structures and resort developments. When faced with a downturn in the education market in 1966, the firm re- organized and expanded. Today, CTA is a multi-disciplinary firm with sixteen offices throughout Montana and six other western states. Their office, constructed in 1958, was located across N. 27th Street from the Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University—Billings) campus, just south of the Physical Education Building. Notable buildings designed by the firm include several buildings on the Montana State University—Billings campus; buildings for the Midland Empire Fairgrounds in Billings; Highland Elementary School and Shrine Auditorium in Billings; the hospital in Red Lodge; the Dude Rancher Lodge in Billings; the Veteran’s Hospital in Miles City; Deaconess Hospital in Billings; and the Montana Crippled Children’s Association Rehabilitation Center in Missoula; among many others. (Taken in its entirety from Painter, 49). Hannon Hall was the first building designed by Cushing, Terrell and Associates at Montana State University. Over the next several decades they would design a number of other buildings including Hapner Hall (1959), Reid Hall (1959), Leon Johnson Hall (1973), Wilson Hall (1974) and the Visual Communications Building (1983). More recently, CTA has undertaken the renovation of campus building including the Brick Breeden Field House (1998) and Renne Library (2003). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 9 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 INFORMATION SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, Esther. “Application for Loan Assistance under Title IV of the Housing Act of 1950, Housing and Home Finance Agency, College Housing Program,” 12/17/1953. University Records, 0030, N2 / 432, “Women’s Dormitory.” Brown, Esther. Letter to President R. R. Renne, 12/2/1953. University Records, 0030, N2 / 432, “Women’s Dormitory.” Brown, Esther. “Proposed New Women’s Dormitory, Detailed Planning,” January 1954. University Records, 0030, N2 / 432, “Women’s Dormitory.” Brown, Esther. “Memorandum Regarding Small Additions Needed in Hannon Hall,” October 1955. University Records, 0030, N2 / 432, “Women’s Dormitory.” Building Master List. Physical Plant Records, Montana State University. Burlingame, Merrill. A History: Montana State University. Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman, MT: Office of Information Publication, February 1968. Burlingame, Merrill. Letter to President R. R. Renne, 4/9/1954. University Records, 0030, N2 / 494, “Men’s Dormitory #2.” Cushing & Terrill and Fred F. Willson. “Progress Report, Women’s Residence Hall,” March 31, 1955. University Records, 0030, Box 86, “Men’s Dormitory #1.” Cushing & Terrell and Fred F. Willson, “Specifications for Construction of a Women’s Residence Hall at Montana State College,” University Records, 51-001. Durkee, L. R. Letter to Dr. R. R. Renne, 2/8/1954. University Records, 0030, N2 / 494, “Men’s Dormitory #2.” Durkee, L. R. Letter to Dr. Ronald R. Renne, 7/19/1954. University Records, 0030, Box 86, “Men’s Dormitory #1.” “Hannon Hall, 1956-1957 Budget.” University Records, 0030, N2 / 494, “$4,600,000 Bond Issue.” Montana State Board of Education. “Minutes of the State Board of Education, December 18, 1953, Missoula, Montana,” University Records, 0030 (N2/494), “Women’s Dormitory.” “MSC Looks Ahead: Increasing Birth Rates, Population Growth and Greater Demands for Higher Education Create Problems” The Montana Collegian , Jan. 1954, pg. 3-4. Painter, Diane J. Montana Post-World War II Architectural Survey and Inventory: Historic Context and Survey Report , December 2010. Painter, Diane J. “Langford Hall, Montana Property Record Form,” July 18, 2010. Montana State Preservation Office. Renne, Ronald R. Letter to L. R. Durkee, 2/12/1954. University Records, 0030, N2 / 494, “Men’s Dormitory #2.” Renne, Ronald R. Letter to M. G. Burlingame, 4/30/1954. University Records, 0030, N2 / 494, “Men’s Dormitory #2.” Renne, Ronald R. Letter to Martin Whalen, 3/10/1954. University Records, 0030, N2 / 432, “Women’s Dormitory.” Renne, Ronald R. Letter to Ester Brown, et al., 11/5/1953. University Records, 0030, N2 / 432, “Women’s Dormitory.” MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 10 Statement of Significance Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NRHP Listing Date: NA NRHP Eligibility: Yes No Individually Contributing to Historic District Noncontributing to Historic District NRHP Criteria: A B C D Area of Significance: Education, Architecture Period of Significance: 1955-1968 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Hannon Hall is a contributing building to the potential Montana State University Historic District, which is eligible for listing under Criterion A and C. Along with Lewis & Clark Hall, a men’s residence hall, it represents an effort to provide improved residential accommodations that would attract potential students after the temporary housing of the World War II and immediate post-War period. Together, Hannon Hall and Lewis & Clark Hall also represent an evolution in funding the construction of revenue-producing buildings at Montana State. To complete the two residence halls, President Ronald R. Renne instituted an “open end” financing policy that had all dormitories and student fee buildings (such as the Student Union) sharing their revenue to pay off construction bonds. Finally, along with Lewis & Clark Hall (1955), Hapner Hall (1959) and Langford Hall (1960), Hannon Hall is an integral component of the residential cluster of buildings that significantly expanded the Montana State campus to the north during a period of steady growth from 1952 to 1960. Architectually, Hannon Hall is an important example of Mid-Century Modern architecture as applied to a dormitory at Montana State University. Its recessed main entrance protected by a flat canopy, curtian wall stair entrances and the long windwall on the first story of the south elevation are character-defining features of the Modern style. Finally, Hannon Hall is also significant as one of the last buildings on campus with which Fred F. Willson was involved, and the first building designed by the Billings architectural firm, Cushing & Terrell. As such, it represents a changing of the guard between Willson, who was responsible for many building constructed during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s and Cushing & Terrill (now CTA), who would design many campus buildings between 1955 and 1985. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 11 Integrity Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 INTEGRITY (location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, association) Hannon Hall has changed little since its construction in 1955 and retains excellent architectural and association integrity. Unlike the other dormitories constructed between 1955 and 1960, Hapner Hall’s original main entrance is still fully intact. Integrity of design, workmanship and materials (including many original doors) is readily apparent on all of the building’s exterior elevations. Most renovations, such as the 2012 replacement of the building’s original windows with 2500 series aluminum DeSCo Architectural units, are historically sensitive to the building’s Modern style aesthetic. Furthermore, it maintains its original location and setting within a cluster of 1950s and early 1960s residential halls including Hapner Hall (1959), Lewis & Clark Hall (1955) and Langford Hall (1960). It readily conveys its architectural significance as one of the first examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture on campus, and its associational significance as a dormitory constructed during a significant growth period at Montana State between 1952 and 1960. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 12 Photographs Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Hannon Hall Main Entrance, West Façade, Facing: NE Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 13 Photographs Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Hannon Hall North End, West Façade, Facing: NE Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 14 Photographs Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Hannon Hall North Elevation and North End of East Wing, Facing: SE Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 15 Photographs Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Hannon Hall North End of East Wing, Facing: SW Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 16 Photographs Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Hannon Hall South End of East Wing with Kitchen Area and Loading Docks, Facing: SW Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 17 Photographs Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 Hannon Hall South Elevation with Lobby (left) and Dining Hall (right), Facing: N Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 18 Photographs Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 “Plot Plan, Women’s Residence Hall” Sheet 1, Cushing & Terrell, 6/21/1954. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 19 Site Map Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 20 Topographic Map Property Name: Hannon Hall Site Number: 24GA1872