Elizabethtown College - Conestogan / Etonian Yearbook (Elizabethtown, PA)

Page 12 text:

Miss Ethel M. B. Wenger, board member, assists in the groundbreaking ceremonies on Friday afternoon, July 15, 1955, after the contract for the residence hall for women hod been awarded to Sovostio Construction, Inc. Watching the proceed- ings are, left to right: J. W. Kettering, chairmen of the board; Chester H. Royer, Norman K. Musser, members of the board; Alfred Hamme, architect; Presi- dent A. C. Baugher, and Robert Young, administrative assistant. The Residence Hall in Construction By the middle of October the outline of the consruction project was well defined. The fH-shaped foundation was being readied for steel. if ' ' - ■ii-

Page 11 text:

A Residence Hall for Women Students r IRST on the agenda was a residence hall for women students that would also provide the campus with a larger dining hall. The period between the filing of an application in October 1952 and the final approval in June 1955 of a loan from the Federal Housing and Home Fi- nance Agency represented a time for numerous com- mittee meetings and anxious waiting. By July 15 the contract had been awarded to the Savastio Construction Company of Hershey and ground breaking ceremonies were held later that afternoon. Construction scheduled to begin August 1 was delayed until August 16 pending the enact ment of an amendment to the federal housing bill that reduced the interest rate on the loan from the federal government from 3.5 to 2.75 per cent per annum. Foundation trenches and basement excavations were completed by Labor Day. The next day the building committee of the Board of Trustees met with J. Alfred Hamme, architect, and William Findley, regional engineer, to discuss the installation of utilities and to consider various matters relative to construction costs, charges, and schedules. By the time the foundation was in place late in October the delay in steel deliveries slowed construc- tion and by December work came to a temporary standstill. With steel deliveries in the early spring construction resumed. The tangible evidences of physical expansion brought renewed hope and new visions to watching students, faculty, and friends of the development program. Time: July 5, 1955. Place: West Campus. Action: A bulldozer uprooting the apple orchard. Reason: Preparing the site for the residence hall for women students.

Page 13 text:

The big snow of the winter on March 17 partially covered the foun- dation ready for delayed steel. The new Church of the Brethren stands almost completed just beyond the edge of the campus. The photographer on April 4 caught the crone swinging the first shipment of steel into place on the foundation. Dimly outlined in the background ore the faculty houses on Mount Joy Street. S Steel, concrete, wires, and brick blend in the new design, committees continue to plan atiead on kitchen equipment, dining hall organization, and dormitOF) ' furnishings. Located on West Campus overlooking the dell to the north and the new Church of the Brethren to the south, the two hundred-foot H-shaped red brick colonial building will house 130 women students. The central dining hall for all boarding students will be located on the first floor to the right of the main entrance. A large lounge and two smaller living rooms are located on the first floor, left. An infir- mary, student rooms, and a faculty suite comprise the east wing, first floor. A suite for the head of residence, a lounge with kitchenette, and rooms for two comprise the second floor. Layout for the third floor is similar to that for the second. By September 1957, rooms will become homes and the residence hall will have a name of its own.