Texas Tech University - La Ventana Yearbook (Lubbock, TX)

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The Rest Of The Story What do those red bricks mean? At the turn of the century when the United States was industriaHzing, ex- panding and educating, it was customary for architects and builders to choose a style of architecture for building sites. On November 22, 1923, when Texas Technological College was founded, uni- versity president Dr. Paul Whitfield Horn made William Ward Watkin first choice as architect of the construction project. Watkin was assigned to the master planning and design phases due to his influential design work at Rice Universi- ty and affiliation with a well-known engi- neering firm in Boston. But Watkin was engaged in the design of buildings at Rice, and the job was assumed by Sanguinet, Staats and Hedrick, one of the largest architectural and engineering firms in Texas at that time. When the time came to decide what style to use on the building sites, Watkin suggested a Spanish style due to the Spanish missions once alive in Texas and the traditions carried on by the state. He stated, ...and this group of college build- ings, as it gradually develops into its different courts, can carry the early tradi- tions, fittingly tying in the bond of tradi- tion, the old history and the new, the past, the present and hope for the future. When the plans were put to work, there were five major buildings centrally lo- cated on the site: Administration, Textile Engineering, West Engineering, the orig- inal portion of Home Economics, and the original portion of Chemistry. The Administration Building reflects the Spanish Alcaldia of the mid Six- teenth Century. The ornamentation is detailed, and the transitions from brick to stone are typical of Spanish architec- ture. On the north facade, the names of subjects taught, the five great institutions of democracy and the results of those institutions reflect the philosophical theme of the time period. Dr. Horn also selected two quotes to be placed on the north facade as a symbol of inspiration for students and faculty. Mexico, the Confederacy, the United States, Texas and Texas Tech were placed on the north facade to remind everyone of Texas ' his- tory. For further inspiration, there is a gallery of heroes in which a great contro- versy arose over the selection of historical leaders to be placed on the north facade. When the decisions were finally made, Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, Lee, Wilson, Hogg, Johnston, Crockett, Aus- tin and Houston were placed over win- dows on the second level of the north side. The scale of the Textile Engineering Building is based on a more modest style. The building was built suitable for hous- ing machinery and thus, a flat roof and large windows were built for more interi- or light and space. Perhaps the most tedious work on campus, the silhouette and entrance portal are reminiscent of Southwest Spanish missions, and styl- ized cotton bales make up the ornamen- tation on the second level. The west Engineering Building pro- vides space and rooms for heavy equip- ment for the civil, electrical and mechani- cal departments and has open drafting room for architecture. The Textile and Engineering buildings were built around the same time. However, their decor and appearance are distinctly different. Dr. Horn was involved with administration of the college at that time and left the questions of the exteriors up to the archi- tects. He requested a plaque or bust of Davis to be placed in the front of the building but the idea was dropped and to this day, the identities of the busts are a mystery. The original portion of the Home Eco- nomics Building was the smallest con- truction project. The location was appro- priate for the time period because this area was referred to as women ' s coun- try. This building has expanded over the years in all directions, but the modest three-arched entrance remains. The original portion of the three-story Chemistry Building is reminiscent of the court of honor in Palacio Monterey in Salamanca. The designs of all chemical symbols and inscriptions the Aristotelian signs of fire, air, water and earth as well as many letter indications and chemical compounds can be found in decorative style mainly on the north facade. —By Jennifer Gilbert r 1, i b ■p IBiq Chemistry ' Building Administration Building Civil Mechanical Engineering 16 — Campus Architecture

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B « vr jKr % ■H r BiiP I V ' ■a ' I nB ' vr ' H BbjbHIH k[ ,A b BTifl Touring the Dairy Barn. Sid Mil- ler, Jeff Burney. Jeff Larremore, Karen Snyder and Brad Hingst give their time to the restoration. Photo bv Corby Roberts) Save Our Barn The Dairy Barn and its adjacent silo on the Texas Tech University campus have survived a fire, a lightening strike, a severe wind storm, a condemned designa- tion and general neglect. Believing their heritage is worth sav- ing, some students are initiating a fund- raising campaign to preserve the historic buildings, keeping the structures from further deterioration caused by weather and time. The Student Association ' s Texas Tech Heritage Committee and other students are initiating a $60,000 fund-raising cam- paign to preserve the exterior of the structures, according to Grady Whitaker Jr., of Belton, a recent graduate of the College of Architecture. Whitaker, an ex student senator, in the fall semester co-chaired the committee with student senator Jay Biediger, a se- nior wildlife management major and Sad- dle Tramp from Uvalde. The fund-raising project is unique because it ' s a student-initiated project, Whitaker said. Twenty-five thousand Texas Tech students are pulling together to save their heritage. The university ' s Space Planning Com- mittee on Sept. 20 approved a plan for preserving the exterior of the Dairy Barn. For now, the structure will be weatherized and will be used as a dry storage area. Weatherization will entail replacing the roof, repairing all windows and doors and repairing any faults in the walls. Addi- tionally both structures will be repainted. The preservation work will require $50,000 to $60,000, of which one-half con- sists of labor costs, Whitaker said. The rebuilding of the roof on the barn and silo will involve replacing the decking and some structural members or rafters. Because the pitch of the roof is so steep, work crews from off-campus will have to construct scaffolding to complete the task, he said. The Student Association committee plans to target its fund-raising efforts at currently enrolled students, alumni and related businesses, Whitaker said. The committee also will seek donations of materials and labor from local construc- tion and building supply operations. The barn and silo will become official historic sites for Texas Tech, Whitaker said, although the university has applied to the Texas Historic Commission to give the structures state historic site designa- tions. During the spring semester 1990, stu- dents from architecture professor John White ' s restoration and conservation class documented the Dairy Barn and its adjacent 60-foot tall silo, structures that reveal the university ' s agricultural heri- tage. The Dairy Barn was a state-of-the-art facility when it was built. The building remains a symbol of the pioneering spirit of the area, Whitaker said. One of the original buildings on the campus in 1925, the Dairy Barn and silo were designed by William Ward Watkin of Houston, in conjunction with Wyatt Hedrick, of the architectural firm San- guinet, Staats and Hedrick of Fort Worth. At that time, Hedrick oversaw all con- struction projects for the new Texas Technological College. Used as an incentive by the college to attract agricultural students, the Dairy Barn originally had the capacity for the care, feeding and milking of 40 cows. Initially, in the summer of 1926, six stu- dents organized a student dairy and fur- nished milk to Texas Tech and private customers. Then delivery was made by horse-drawn wagons, but by 1930 a pick- up was used to deliver both milk and ice cream to the cafeteria and to home eco- nomics food lab s. During the time the dairy producing plant was open, from 1926 to 1939, numerous students helped to pay their college expenses by bringing their cows to college and working at the dairy facility. If the Dairy Barn is to be restored, the student body will have to be responsible for the preservation of Texas Tech ' s his- tory, and, in fact, become part of that history. We owe it to ourselves, to those who came before us and to those still to come to preserve our history so that everyone will know of Texas Tech, where it came from and where it is going in the future, Whitaker said. — By Kippra D. Hopper Save Our Barn — 15

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Electrical Engineering Elect rical Engineering Campus Architecture — 17