Purdue News
Purdue News
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April 16, 1999
Desire for more personal space prompts renovationWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University's oldest existing residence hall, Cary Quadrangle, will undergo a $36 million renovation in response to students' requests for more space and more privacy.
Three of Cary's five buildings will be air-conditioned and made handicapped accessible with elevators. Also, a sprinkler system will be installed as the three buildings are gutted and redesigned to incorporate a full bath shared by every two rooms. "Private bathrooms are in high demand, so the plan calls for the elimination of large community bathrooms," said Marvis Boscher, director of University Residences. "Space is also a top priority. The 'doubles' in Cary Quad really were meant to be 'singles' prior to the high demand for on-campus housing after World War II. By turning the rooms back into true 'doubles,' we hope to eliminate that cramped feeling." Each of the new two-person rooms will be enlarged, from the existing 140 square feet to approximately 240 square feet. Two of the five buildings in Cary Quadrangle will retain smaller rooms and community bathrooms to provide an economical option for students. The entire project will be completed in six phases over six years. As each building comes under renovation, students will be relocated to other on-campus housing. In addition to room renovations, Cary Quad's dining hall will be transformed into a larger dining commons with a marketplace concept similar to a food court. The dining hall renovation at Cary is part of a $20 million project that will consolidate the 11 existing cafeteria-style facilities on the West Lafayette campus into five. This residence hall's history begins when Cary Hall was completed in 1928, thanks in part to a cash donation by Lafayette industrialist and entrepreneur Frank M. Cary and a land donation by George Spitzer, a dairy chemist and prominent teacher in the School of Agriculture. Cary initially disagreed with the site selected by the university trustees for a men's dormitory, complaining that "people will drive through campus and no one will ever see it." University administrators argued that a building located between Ross-Ade Stadium and Stadium Avenue would be the first thing anyone going to football games on a Saturday morning would see. After looking over architect Walter Scholer's 1922 master plan for campus development, Cary was persuaded to give the university a $50,000 gift in memory of his son, who had died in 1912, shortly before he was to enter Purdue. At the same time, state legislation was approved to permit state-supported colleges and universities to issue revenue bonds to build and furnish dormitories. By using Cary's donation and the university's bonding power, a $150,000 dormitory, Franklin Levering Cary Memorial Hall, known today as Cary East, was built to house 150 men. The rest of the buildings that make up Cary Quad were built over the next 12 years with additional donations from Cary. The first years of Cary Hall were extremely important, for it was up to the residents to determine whether the hall would prosper. Two earlier residence halls had been faltered and been converted to classroom space. Cary Hall consisted entirely of freshmen who were to govern themselves and abide under their own self-government without counselors or proctors. In order to make policy decisions for Cary Hall, the students immediately formed Cary Club, which became an official student organization. During World War II, Cary Quad became an armed forces barracks, taken over by the Navy for its training school for electricians' mates and the Navy College Training Program (V12). Women lived at Cary Quad, too. Cary became the first coed hall in Purdue's history in the fall of 1945, when civilian students returned to the Quadrangle. Women lived in the East and Northeast Units until the fall of 1947, when Cary became completely male again. Cary Quad normally housed 936 students in prewar days, but in 1946, with the end of the war, it suddenly bulged with 2,050 students, a feat made possible by doubling and even tripling some of the single rooms and putting bunk beds and even hammocks in the attics under the sloping roofs. The current capacity of Cary Quad is 1,555 residents. After the completion of the remodeling, that capacity will decline by about 300. Former Purdue President Arthur G. Hansen was among the V12 students who came to Purdue in 1943. Among other notable personalities who have lived at Cary Quad is astronaut Gene Cernan.
Sources: Tim Gennett, (765) 494-1000; tgennett@purdue.edu Marvis Boscher, (765) 494-1000; mboscher@purdue.edu Writer: Jeanine Smith, (765) 423-2923 or (765) 496-3133; jeanine_smith@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION: Cary Quadrangle became an armed forces barracks during World War II, taken over by the U.S. Navy to train naval electronics mates. (Photo courtesy of the Tippecanoe Historical Association Archives) Black and white photo, electronic transmission, and Web and ftp download available. Photo ID: Boscher.Cary
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