Hall Center’s Open House will celebrate integration of old and new

The new home of the Hall Center for the Humanities, which combines century-old architecture and masonry with modern design and construction, hosts an open house 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20.

The new building, along Sunnyside Avenue on the south slope of Mount Oread, incorporates elements of KU’s oldest surviving structure, the 1887 Powerhouse.

The new two-story building has approximately 14,700 square feet of space and will include a 120-seat conference room, a seminar room, and offices for staff and research fellows.

The Hall Center’s design uses and preserves stone arches from the south facade of the Powerhouse.

According to University Architect Warren Corman, John Haskell’s design for the Powerhouse was influenced strongly by a Romanesque building that still stands in Oviedo, Spain. The Royal Palace of Ramiro I was built in 848 and was converted into a church, Santa Maria de Naranco, in the 13th century. Haskell designed five buildings at KU, of which Bailey Hall (1900) is the only complete, surviving example.

The Powerhouse was struck by lightning in 1898. The resulting fire severely damaged the building, which was constructed of Oread limestone quarried on site. A portion of the building was repaired but, over the years, subsequent modifications and deterioration largely obliterated Haskell’s original design.

The structure had been used for many years as a Facilities Operations storage building. The new building is the result of a $4 million gift to the KU Endowment Association from the Hall Family Foundation, $1.89 million in state funds and $260,000 in private donations.

The formal dedication for the center will take place on April 9.

Learn more about the old powerhouse from KUhistory.com.