By the 1950s, future expansion of Northwestern was stopped: lack of space. The university was faced with 3 choices:
1. Move west across Sheridan road into residential neighborhoods, tearing down beautiful homes.
2. Build an "asphalt campus", crowding new buildings by getting rid of the green spaces east of Sheridan Rd.
3. Extend eastward into Lake Michigan.
The decision was made to fill in the Lake. They purchased 74 acres; cost about $5.2 million. From the state they bought 152 acres of "submerged lake land at a cost of $100 per acre." I wonder what the price would be in today's money?
Only one issue occurred. The sand for the lake fill was to come from dredging of a "controversial harbor in the Indiana Dunes", & Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois accused the university of taking part in an act of "environmental vandalism"! It took time, but Douglas finally agreed.
The lake fill took more than 2 years & included a limestone retaining wall around the perimeter of the underwater expansion zone.
In 1964, solid ground was established. The first building on the new land was Vogelback Computing Center. Then The University Library was built as well as the Frances Searle Building & the Norris University Center in about 1972. Pick-Staiger Concert Hall & James L. Allen Center came in the late 1970s.
Recently, the lake fill campus has seen Henry Crown Sports Pavillon, Norris Aquatics Center, Northwestern soccer & field Hockey fields, & Annenberg Hall built.
When you are walking near Lake Michigan on the NU campus, you are really walking on Lake Michigan!
Original Blog:
No comments:
Post a Comment