Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Transit Yearbook (Troy, NY)

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Prouclllt Laboratory Carnegie Hall Walker Chemical Laboratory

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TRANSIT. VOL. XLIII I5 C GQ, ,QM wield . lk? , 'JI -ii.: Blew! ,R .i it I Wifi, Uhr Ninn fdnatitnir I INCE the year IBZ4 many changes have occurred in the growth of the Institute. The present finds it Hourishing as it never has before, with new buildings in use and others under course of construction. Thru many years of misfortune and trouble, which resulted from fires and poverty, the Institute h-as struggled. In 1824 the school occupied one building, and even that was some place of business. Frequent changes occurred in the site of the Institute. Such places as the old Bank place, the Van- der Heyden mansion, the Infant School lot, the Provincial Seminary, the Vail Building were its abodes for forty years. Thru the generosity of Mr. Joseph P. Warren in donating a piece of ground on Eighth street, the beginning of a more permanent home for the Institute was made possible. On that property, thru the efforts of the officers and good friends of the Institute, the old main building was completed in 1864, and the Winslow Chemical Laboratory in IS66. Shortly thereafter the Ranken I-louse and ground, located directly across Eighth street, were procured, and in i878 the Proudfit Physical Laboratory was completed. In ISS7 th-e Gymnasium, located on the corner of Broadway and the Institute alley, was built, and in IS93 the Alumni building was erected, but placed in the heart of the city. In i904 a great loss came to the Institute in the total destruction by fire of the main building. This loss made it necessary for the Institute to use the old chemical laboratory and Ranken House, as well as a couple of floors of the Bank building on River street, and, as the student body was rather large, these quarters were very much cramped. Si-nce l905 great changes for the better have come to the Institute. In the spring of I906 two new buildings sprang

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TRANSIT, VOL. XLIII I7 up on the hill-the Carnegie I-Iall and the Walker laboratory. Thru the kindness of Andrew Carnegie and large and small donations from friends, these two buildings were given, and their excellent equipment and conveniences were a god- send to the student body, as well as a long step towards the improvement of the Institute proper. A Before these gifts, however, came the purchase of the Warren property, together with the Warren residence. This was turned into a dormitory in the fall of I907, and marks a new epoch in the advancement of the Institute facilities. In IQO7, also, the class of 1886 generously dona-ted an athletic field, and Mrs. Russell Sage gave her donation of one million dollars, which has placed the Institute on an equal footing with other institutes of wealth as far as possessions and ,possibilities are concerned. x. Another great help to the students has been the building of the Students' Association Club House. This idea was conceived by the late M. E. Evans, ,95, and carried out by Director Palmer C. Ricketts, Prof. W. L. Robb and N. P. Lewis, 79, I'I. W. I'Iodge, '85, G. A. Soper, '95, and F. de P. Hone, I97. This year finds it a completed building of colonial architecture, with conveniences of all kinds for student comforts and pleasures. This year also will see the completion of a new central power and heating plant situated behind the present Physical laboratory. But by far the most important improvement at hand is the erection of the new Russell Sage laboratory, which will afford room and equipment for the two new branches of engineering, namely, electrical and mechanical, both of which have been installed in the curriculum for l908. This structure will be built of I-Iarvard brick, with Indiana limestone trimmings, and will cost s277,000.00 Its archi- tecture will be similar to that of Carnegie I-Iall and the Walker I..abora'tory. Its size will be 244 feet long by 80 feet wide. The general characteristics of this building will be the completeness of equipment for the departments which will occupy it. For the mechanical engineering department the west wing will be utilized en-tirely. There will be machinery of every description, large laboratories for experimenting, research work and standardizing instruments. The electrical engineer- ing and physical departments will occupy the east wing, which is also fitted out with permanent laboratories and rooms for various kinds of applied science. Lecture halls and topic rooms on the third floor afford plenty of room to accommodate a larger student body than now -attends the Institute.