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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLeon Johnson Hall (24GA1875)_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 North Side Centennial Mall Historic Address (if applicable): City/Town: Bozeman, MT Site Number: 24GA1875 (An historic district number may also apply.) County: Gallatin Historic Name: Life Science Building Original Owner(s): Montana State University Current Ownership Private Public Current Property Name: Leon Johnson Hall Owner(s): Montana State University - Administration 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): 23 Addition: Capital Hill Year of Addition: 1890 USGS Quad Name: Bozeman Year: 1987 Historic Use: Classrooms, Offices, Laboratories Current Use: Same Construction Date: 1973, 1976 Estimated Actual Original Location Moved Date Moved: UTM Reference www.nris.mt.gov/topofinder2 NAD 27 or NAD 83(preferred ) Zone: 12 Easting: 496101 Northing: 5057152 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, 2012 Form Prepared by: Jessie Nunn / Consultant Address: 600 Meadowlark Lane, Livingston, MT 59047 Daytime Phone: 406-208-28727 MT SHPO USE ONLY Eligible for NRHP: yes X no Criteria: A B C D Date: 10/7/2013 Evaluator: Kate Hampton Comments: Non-contributing resource within the Montana State University Historic District, due to its construction date that postdates the period of significance. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 2 Architectural Description Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Architectural Style: Other: If Other, specify: Late Modern Property Type: Education Specific Property Type: Classroom/Office/Laboratory Architect: Architectural Firm/City/State: CTA / Billings, MT Builder/Contractor: Company/City/State: Morgen & Oswood (general) / Great Falls, MT; Safe-Way (mechanical) / Billings, MT; Yellowstone Electric (electrical) / Billings, MT Source of Information: University Records, 70-0020 Leon Jonson Hall "Misc." Setting and Location Located immediately northwest of Montana Hall, Leon Johnson Hall (formerly the Life Science Building) clusters together with campus buildings that house related departments and programs including Lewis Hall (Biology & Ecology), Linfield Hall (Agriculture) and the Chemistry and Biochemistry Building. These buildings, along with Montana Hall and Wilson Hall (located immediately to the east) represent a wide range of construction periods (1896-2007) and an impressive variety of architectural styles including Collegiate Gothic, Neo-Classical and Renaissance Revival, Modern and Neo-Eclectic. Beginning with Hamilton Hall in 1911, however, care was taken to design buildings that were aesthetically sensitive to Montana Hall, especially in the use of materials and color. All of the buildings surrounding Montana Hall located north of Centennial Mall (Leon Johnson Hall, Wilson Hall and Hamilton Hall) display red or buff brick facades. A small landscaped lawn sits between Leon Johnson Hall and Centennial Mall with more open space to the rear (south) of the building. Alumni Plaza, a heavily-landscaped area surrounding the Bobcat sculpture Spirit , was completed in 2009 and sits to the northeast of Leon Johnson Hall. Summary Leon Johnson Hall, a reinforced concrete building, includes three sections: an eight-story tower to the north, a one-story lecture hall to the south and a one-story connecting plaza. Flat roofs cover all sections. The tower measures 122’ x 114’ feet at its widest, but exhibits a number of projecting and recessed wall surfaces, and is clad in buff-colored brick in a running bond. Measuring 134’ x 83’, the lecture hall displays a similarly complex footprint created by projecting sections, all of which are clad in red and buff brick in a running bond. In essence, both main sections are created with a series of blocks. An approximately 60’ x 75’ one-story connecting plaza clad in the same color brick as the lecture hall link the tower and lecture hall. Because the site slopes dramatically to the north, the connecting plaza roof rests at grade with the rear lecture hall first floor and enters the tower at its third story. This allows for a view of the tower’s southern elevation through the lecture hall’s all-glass central entrance bay. Completed in 1973, Leon Johnson Hall was designed in the Modern style by the Billings, Montana architectural firm CTA (formerly Cushing, Terrell & Associates). The design incorporates elements of two Late Modern styles: Brutalism, especially in the tower’s projecting blocks and recessed, vertical fenestration bays, and the Second Phase International style, evident in the all-glass entrance bay and strong horizontal emphasis of Lecture Hall when contrasted with the tower. South Façade The south-facing façade creates the feeling of symmetry, with a vertical tower emerging immediately behind the horizontal lecture hall. However, the tower actually sits about 60’ north of the lecture hall entrance and is not centered, but slightly offset to the east. The lecture hall’s south elevation also displays asymmetry, with a 24’ recessed glass entrance bay flanked by a 70’ brick wall to the west and an identical 40’ wall to the west. The window wall entrance has a slightly lower roofline and contains double glass doors with three full-length glass panels on both sides and glass panels above. All glass panels are framed in slender brown metal mullions. A wide, slightly projecting canopy clad in four brown metal panels protects the entire entrance bay. The north wall of the entrance bay, a curtain wall with nine long lights over a row of shorter lights, is entirely visible from the façade, as is a portion the tower’s third story on its south elevation. The flanking brick walls are largely unadorned except for a soldier course of brick about one foot under the roofline, which continues along all of the lecture hall’s elevations, as well as the side elevations of the connecting plaza. “LEON H. JOHNSON HALL” occurs in large individual metal letters across the eastern wall. Each section flanking the glass entrance bay contains a single, one-story lecture hall, with the west and east rooms originally designed to accommodate 273 and 100 students, respectively. Two wall surfaces, or blocks, make up the south elevation of the tower. The first measures approximately 70’ feet long and its corners are flush with the side elevations of the connecting plaza. Six stories of this wall (stories 3-8 of the tower) are visible above the roof of the connecting plaza, with all but the lowest containing just two slender window bays in their MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 3 Architectural Description Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 western half. The windows sit located in a recessed, continuous vertical strip with stories separated by bronze metal spandrel panels. Each bronze aluminum window unit contains two columns of lights with two rows of small lights below a long rectangular light and a square light. The upper small lights are operational awning units, while all other lights are stationary. On the third story, which is immediately above the roof of the connecting plaza, are two sets of recessed horizontally-arranged windows of a similar configuration to the east of the vertical window bays. The second wall surface of the tower’s south elevation is located to the east and is setback about 20’ from the main section. It measures approximately 35’ feet wide and also displays six visible stories (stories 3-8 of the tower). The first story contains a recessed entrance reached by a zigzagging solid concrete ramp with a brown metal railing. Stories 4-8 contain a single recessed vertical bay or strip of windows offset to the west. The configuration of the windows and spandrel panels is identical to those found on the west wall surface, except here the upper square light is filled with brown paneling and not glass. On the east facing wall created by the setback, there occurs a single recessed strip of windows offset to the north on stories 4-8. These windows are similar to those found on the south-facing walls, except here only one column of lights per each widow unit exists. While Leon Johnson Hall is largely devoid of ornamentation, a few elements within the design of the tower create visual interest. One, a grid of white lines divides all of the tower’s elevations into stories, bays of windows strips and large brick panels. This grid system visually suggests the building’s structural form and furthers the impression that the tower is constructed of separate block units. East Elevation Moving from south to north, the 264’ elevation of Leon Johnson Hall includes the lecture hall, connecting plaza and tower. The solid brick lecture hall extends 46’ north before turning west for approximately 6’ to screen a single door entrance on the east end of the north elevation. The remaining east elevation of the lecture hall sits back approximately 21’ and contains a double door entrance on its northern end that leads to a vestibule with stairs up to the lecture hall and down to the connecting plaza, which is a solid brick wall on its east side. Like its south elevation, the east elevation of the tower consists of two wall surfaces. The 40’ south wall contains a slender recessed bay slightly offset to the south. It has brown double louvers on each upper story (3-8) that separated by slightly protruding brown metal spandrels at each floor. A small, slightly protruding wall with a louver vent in its upper section is located on the first story. The 60’ wide north wall protrudes 8’ to the east and contains a slender, recessed window bay in its center. Stories 3-8 contain the same double column window configuration as found in the western window bays of the south elevation. The second story sits at grade on this elevation, and a recessed entrance with double aluminum-framed glass doors is located on the south end of this wall. South of this entrance, the first story wall actually extends slightly across the south wall and has a louver vent in the upper portion of its south-facing wall. A ribbon of six recessed aluminum windows with a long light above two shorter lights is located on the north end of the third story. The 50’ x 34’ elevator penthouse is highly visible on this elevation. It basically extends between the window bays, with its east wall being flush with the setback southern wall. Here, and on all the elevations of the tower, the top of the window bays are slightly lower than the roofline, creating the vague implication of a castellation. North Elevation The north (rear) elevation of the tower contains two wall surfaces: an approximately 60’ east wall and a 40’ west wall that is set back approximately 20’. Two, slender window bays, each containing the same configuration of double window units and projecting spandrel panels as first descripted in the west bay of the south elevation are located on the east wall. The western bay, centered on the wall, extends between stories 3-8, while the east bay only extends from stories 4-8. Two slender, recessed widow bays occur on the west wall of the north elevation. The first is five stories (4-8) and offset to the west. It contains the same configuration of double windows and spandrels as found on east wall. A recessed ribbon of six horizontal windows, identical to those on the north end of the east elevation, occurs on the third story under this strip of widows. The second window bay is six stories (3-8) and is located on the east end of the wall. It contains only a single column of windows with the same configuration as those found throughout the tower. A recessed, six story (3-8) widow bay with double windows is centered in the west-facing wall created by the set back. The west side of the lecture hall’s rear elevation (the east side was described earlier) displays two brick wall surfaces. A single door is located on the west end of the inner wall, while the outer (west) wall is solid brick and projects slightly to the north. Both the north and south elevations of the connecting plaza are obscured by the tower and lecture hall, respectively. West Elevation The west elevation of Leon Johnson Hall may be its most complex, particularly in the tower section. Here, an approximately 60’ wide, nine-story central section projects 12’ from the main wall surface. It is divided into two towers by a MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 4 Architectural Description Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 centered, recessed 8-story (1-8) bay with double windows identical to those found throughout the tower in its upper seven stories, but here the windows are also flanked by buff-colored paneling. The ninth story is open above this bay with a railing protecting a walk between two towers. The first story, which is below grade but accessible here by an excavated concrete drive, contains a single door located in the recessed central bay. Centered on the east tower is a 9-story recessed bay with double louver vents, while the west tower is solid brick. To the north of the projecting central section, the tower’s main west wall has a 5-story (4-8) recessed bay with a single column of windows on its south end. At the second story, which sits at grade here, the central section has one-story projection that extends across about one-quarter of this wall. It contains a double louvered vent in the upper portion of its north-facing wall. The main wall south of the central towers also has a 5-story (4-8) recessed window bay containing a single column of windows. Like its northern counterpart, it is located immediately against the side wall of the central section. A recessed ribbon of four horizontal windows, each with one long light above two shorter lights, is found on the third story below this bay. Slightly projecting entrances are found on both ends of the lecture hall’s western elevation. Each contains a recessed double aluminum-framed glass door protected by two large brown panels. Thin columns of rowlock bricks flanking a single stack course of stretcher bricks frame both entrances. Due to the slope of the site, the southern entrance sits at grade, but the northern entrance is reached by a poured concrete ramp with a metal railing. The slope is even more aggressive against the connecting plaza on this elevation, and its single brick story (which is even with the third story of the tower) sits on a highly-visible poured concrete foundation. Associated Cooling Tower Leon Johnson Hall also has a small (20’ x 30’), one-story cooling tower located about 40’ north of the tower. Like the tower, it is clad in brick and displays projecting and recessed wall surfaces broken by slender and recessed bays with lower rooflines. The cooling tower has a recessed louvered vent on its east elevation, a solid metal walk-in door on the west end of its south elevation and a double louvered vent on its west elevation (all painted brown). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 5 History of Property Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 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 holds the distinction of being Montana’s first legislatively-created public university, with the University of Montana in Missoula 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 World 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 occurred 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 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: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 A Permanent and Walkable Campus: The 1968-1974 Building Campaign In 1965, Montana State College became Montana State University (MSU), and over the next decade the campus grew to reflect its loftier name. Between 1964 and 1967 the Hedges Dormitory Complex, which included two high-rise dormitories and a round food service building, and Roskie Hall, a futuristic clover-shaped dormitory, were constructed at the very southwestern corner of campus across 11 th Avenue. The modern aesthetic and elevated skyline of these buildings symbolized just how grown-up Montana State had become. However, expanding outward and upward would not be enough to keep pace with the University’s growth. Enrollment increased from about 4,000 in 1960 to nearly 9,000 by 1975, and in 1965 MSU’s leaders decide changes to the campus’s core—including new construction, the renovation of some older buildings and the demolition of others, and the establishment of a network of paved walkways—was necessary to complete a modern, pedestrian campus. (MSU Website, Enrollment History; Classroom-Office Building EIS, 2) MSU’s campus architect, Andy Van Teylingen, and building coordinator, William Johnstone, introduced the new campus plan to students in the February 1968 Exponent article, “Buildings to Blossom at MSU.” Among other projects, the plan included the construction of an Engineering Science Complex, a Life Science Building and an Arts Center. Johnstone also called for a “pedestrian campus,” created through an, “eight minute circle” with administrative buildings (Montana Hall and the newly-renovated Hamilton Hall) surrounded by general academic buildings, then professional schools and finally residence halls. A pedestrian campus, according to Johnstone, required the abandonment of all roads through campus in exchange for paved walkways that would serve both pedestrians and emergency vehicles. ( Exponent, 2/16/1968). Eventually the plan would also include a new Classroom-Office Building and a Nursing Building within the campus core area, as well as a Heath & Physical Education Complex, a new Football Stadium and housing for married students. A secondary goal of the plan included “razing of all the wooden buildings in the academic core of campus,” which included the Montana Hall Annex, a pair of World War I-era barracks near the Wool Lab and Bridger Hall, which housed Nursing and Health and Physical Education. (Classroom-Office Building EIS, 2). The frame buildings, always viewed as temporary solutions to MSU’s space and housing shortages, simply did not fit within the modern university campus envisioned by Van Teylingen, Jonhstone and University President Leon Johnson. Such an ambitious building campaign naturally provided plentiful challenges and stirred occasional controversy. Funding the projects, for instance, proved difficult during the Vietnam War, but MSU cobbled together sufficient state and federal funding to complete all of its major construction projects by 1974. Unfortunately for the administration, however, several projects proceeded slowly, either due to insufficient funds or engineering problems. The confrontational mood of students during the social upheaval of the Vietnam-era only exacerbated negative perceptions of the building campaign. When it was revealed in early 1972 that the 7th and 8 th floors of the Life Science Building (Leon Johnson Hall) would remain unfinished due to lack of funds and that settling problems existed with its foundation, two sophomores published a poem titled “Unfinished” in the Exponent . Their poem revealed the frustration surrounding MSU’s construction woes, and included verses such as, “Leaning dorms, floating floors, have come to MSU. No you haven’t had too much Coors / These things happen yes they do,” and “Unfinished Reid, unfinished Library, unfinished Life Sciences Building, too. Will they ever complete a whole building by 1982?” (Exponent , 2/29/1972). Even the Classroom-Office Building, completed without incident, could not escape criticism, with the Exponent lamenting the loss of campus’s “most beautiful lawn” and pointing out the building’s resemblance to the latest in “prison architecture.” ( Exponent , 1/28/1975). Van Teylingen addressed the challenges and criticisms in the Fall of 1973, telling the Exponent there was more good news to be found in, “Montana State University’s most ambitious building program in history,” than bad news. ( Exponent , 9/20/1973). Indeed, the 1968-1974 building campaign achieved its goals. It transformed the campus from one still partially dependent on temporary structures and bisected by streets to a more permanent and pedestrian-friendly environment. While the campaign resulted in some lamentable losses, most notably in open space and architectural unity, it undeniably brought Montana State University into the modern era. Since that time only three major buildings have been added to the core area of campus: the Visual Communications Building (1983), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Building (1997), which replaced the Ryon Laboratories, and the Chemistry and Biochemistry Building (2007). Life Sciences Building (Leon Johnson Hall) Planning for the Life Science Building began in 1966, but funding was not secured until the 1967 Montana Legislature appropriated $3,750,000 dollars for the project with the understanding that the monies would not be available for another two years. (Van Teylingen to McIntosh, 9/2/1970). Former President Leon Johnson, who died in 1969, was largely MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 7 History of Property Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 responsible for its overall design, calling for a building in “which the broad spectrum of Life Sciences could be taught and men of different disciplines but like interests could be housed with laboratories adaptable to research in all disciplines in the field.” (Life Science Building, 1). Johnson also requested an incorporation of a modern lecture hall into the building. The design presented by the Billings architectural firm, CTA (formerly Cushing, Terrell and Associates), which included a nine-story office tower and one-story lecture hall, would likely have met Johnson’s expectations. The building’s spatial organization was set by a committee consisting of faculty from biochemistry, zoology, genetics, microbiology and pant and soil science. Mechanical equipment and storage would occupy the basement, the Cereal Quality Laboratory and Seed Testing Facilities the first floor, teaching laboratories the second floor and offices, a reception area and a heated plaza the third floor. The fourth through eight floors (the ninth floor was scraped due to insufficient funds) would be similar with offices and laboratories surround a core of service facilities (dark, rooms, growth chambers, counting rooms, etc.) (Life Science Building, 1-2). The debate surrounding the siting of the Life Science Building reflected crowding issues on the MSU campus. The University considered three sites: (1) directly north of the current building fronting Cleveland Street; (2) west of 11 th Avenue and (3) between Main Hall and Lewis Hall. The first site was rejected for being too far removed from the Lewis and Linfield Halls. While sparing precious open space in the campus core, the rejection of the second site resulted because the shadow of the building’s tower would infringe upon a series of greenhouses (and presumably because it was also too far removed from Lewis and Linfield Halls). This left the third site, which even after selected left much to be desired. Firstly, it meant the loss of significant open space, a problem for MSU officials hoping to create a campus characterized by a, “series of open spaces whose boundaries are buildings.” Secondly, some also hoped to avoid adding to the “Main Street atmosphere such as we now have along Garfield Street.” (Van Teylingen to McIntosh, 9/2/1970). Interesting, the disregard for the “Main Street” along Garfield Street significantly repudiated the 1917 George Carsley / Cass Gilbert Plan, which sought to formally arrange campus building along axial lines. While setting the building back from Garfield Street (now Centennial Mall) alleviated the second problem with the chosen site, there was no avoiding the loss of open space. At least Van Teylingen and others involved in the site selection could take comfort in then Head of Plant & Soil Science, E. R. Hehn' assertion that, “he appreciated the architectural design of the building flowing down the hill among the trees,” and that with, “some compromise in asthetics (sp.) a functional building embodying the concept of blending into the existing environment can be realized.” (Hehn to Van Teylingen, 1/8/1968). With specifications and funding in hand and a site selected, MSU moved forward with the construction of the Life Sciences Building. Contracts were let in September of 1970, with the Morgen-Oswood Construction Company of Great Falls, Montana receiving the general contract, Safe-Way Plumbing & Heating of Billings, Montana receiving the mechanical contract and Yellowstone Electric, also of Billings, receiving the electrical contract. The project proceeded successfully until the Spring of 1972 when it was discovered the first floor concrete slab of the tower, which sat at grade, settled anywhere from one to four inches causing a “sinking” floor. ( Exponent , 2/29/1972). Northwest Testing Laboratory was brought in to assess the situation, and by August, CTA offered a corrective course of action to State of Montana architect, Philip H. Hauck. (CTA to Phillip H. Hauck, 8/31/2012). More difficult was deciding who was responsible for the settlement problem, the architectural firm or the general contractor. Neither wished to assume responsibility and the State refused to make a judgment, saying only that until the issue was settled the building would not be accepted and the final $20,000 retainer would not be released. (Hauck to Morgen-Oswood, 5/16/1972). The settlement problem pushed the completion date of the Life Sciences Building back from May 1972 to January 1973, and then November of 1973, when the State of Montana finally accepted the project. (Saxby to Morgen-Osgood, 11/19/1973). Even upon “completion,” the Life Sciences Building and the controversy surrounding the settlement problem was still unfinished. In 1974, the Morgen-Osgood Construction Company brought suit against the State of Montana for fees they believed were due to them after the completion of the project. The case eventually settled out of court. (Subpeona of Andrew Van Teylingen, 11/20/1974). The seventh and eight floors of the tower, which were left unfinished due to a lack of funding, were finally completed in 1976. Despite complications during its construction, the building has served MSU well since its completion. Today, the distinctive Late Modern style building remains the tallest within the core campus. It currently houses offices and laboratories for Plant Sciences & Pathology, Land Resources & Environmental Sciences, the Thermal Biology Institute, Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Earth Sciences, Ecology, the Center for Native Heath Partnerships and the WWAMI Medical Program. (MSU Website, Leon Johnson Hall). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 8 History of Property Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 CTA (Cushing, Terrell and Associates) 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, and 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. 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, sat 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 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. (Painter, 49). In addition to Leon Johnson Hall, Cushing, Terrill and Associates also designed a number of other buildings on the Montana State University campus, including Hannon Hall (1955), Hapner Hall (1959), Reid Hall (1959), Wilson Hall (1974) and the Visual Communications Building (1983). More recently, CTA undertook the renovation of campus buildings including the Brick Breden Field House Renovation (1998) and Renne Library (2003). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 9 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 INFORMATION SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Building Master List. Physical Plant Records, Montana State University. “Buildings to Blossom at MSU,” The Exponent , 16 February 1968. “Contract by and between State of Montana and Morgen and Oswood Construction Company,” 21 September 1970. University Archives, 70-0020, “Johnson, Leon, General.” CTA. Letter to Phillip H. Hauck, 31 August 1972. University Records, 70-0020 “Slab Settlement Problem.” CTA. “[Specifications for] Life Sciences Building, Montana State University,” c. 1968. University Archives, 70-0020. District Court of the Eight Judicial District of the State of Montana in and for the County of Cascade. “Subpoena for Andrew Van Teylingen,” 20 November 1974. University Archives, 70-0020, “Johnson, Leon, General.” Gardner, William M. and Paul O. Dillon. “Unfinished,” The Exponent , 29 February 1972. Hauck, Phillip H. Letter to Morgen-Oswood Construction Co., 16 May 1972. University Records, 70-0020 “Slab Settlement Problem.” Hehn, E. R. Letter to Andy Van Teylingen, 8 January 1968. University Archives, 70-0020. “Life Science Building,” c. 1970, University Archives, 70-0020, “Johnson, Leon, General.” “Life Science: A Stabilization Problem,” The Exponent , 29 February 1972. Montana State University. “Fall Head Count Enrollment History, 1893 to Present,” Website accessed online at http://www.montana.edu/opa/facts/headhist.html . Montana State University. “Leon Johnson Hall,” Website accessed online at http://calendar.msu.montana.edu/locations.php?building=17&ref=map 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. Pollock, Brian. “CLOB Resembles Prison,” The MSU Exponent , 28 January 1975. Saxby, Doyle B. (State Controller). Letter to Morgen and Oswood Construction, 19 November 1973. University Archives, 70-0020, “Johnson, Leon, General.” Saxby, Doyle B. (State Controller). Letter to State Board of Examiners, 14 August 1970. University Archives, 70-0020. Van Teylingen, Andy. “Classroom-Office Building, Enviromental Impact Statement,” August 28, 1972. University Records, 74-0001. Van Teylingen, Andy. “Campus Construction: First the Good News….,” The Exponent , 20 September 1972. Van Teylingen, Andy. Letter to President Carl W. McIntosh, 2 September 1970. University Records, 70-0020, “Misc.” MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 10 Statement of Significance Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NRHP Listing Date: 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: 1973- STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Leon Johnson Hall does not currently contribute to the Montana State University-Bozeman Historic District due to age. Constructed in 1973, its recent construction date falls outside the district’s period of historical and architectural significance, 1893-1968. However, it is a significant example of Late Modern architecture on campus that incorporates elements of Brutalism and Second Stage International style. It is also an integral component of the 1968-1974 building campaign, which transformed a MSU campus, still partially dependent on temporary buildings, to a more permanent and pedestrian-friendly environment. Its contributing status should be reconsidered in future amendments or expansions of the Montana State University Historic District. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 11 Integrity Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 INTEGRITY (location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, association) Leon Johnson Hall displays excellent exterior integrity. Its overall design and footprint remains completely intact, and it retains most of its original materials including its original windows. The building also retains its original location, and only the Biology and Bio-Chemistry Building constructed immediately to the north infringes upon its historic setting. At present, the building clearly conveys its future architectural significance as an example of Late Modern architecture on the MSU campus and its associational significance as an integral component of the 1968-1974 building campaign. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 12 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall South Façade, Facing: N Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 13 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall East Elevation (Tower and Connecting Section), Facing: NW Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 14 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall East Elevation and West Wall Surface of North Elevation (Tower), Facing: SW Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 15 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall North Elevation (Tower), Facing: SE Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 16 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall West Elevation (Tower), Facing: E Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 17 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall East Elevation (Connecting Section) and North Elevation (Lecture Hall), Facing: SE Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 18 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall West Elevation (Lecture Hall), Facing: SE Montana State University Jessie Nunn, October 7, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 19 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Leon Johnson Hall South Façade and East Elevation (Lecture Hall), Facing: NW Montana State University Jessie Nunn, November 3, 2012 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 20 Photographs Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 Sheet 2, “Site & Grading Plan, Life Science Building,” Cushing, Terrell & Associates, June 1970 (University Records) MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 21 Site Map Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 22 Topographic Map Property Name: Life Science Building Site Number: 24GA1875