Inside Iowa State

April 13, 2007

Morrill Hall will be rededicated April 20

by Annette Hacker, News Service

Even better than the original.

That's how Kerry Dixon-Fox describes a renovated Morrill Hall, which will be rededicated on Friday, April 20, at 11 a.m. The ceremony will be held on central campus, just across the street from Morrill. Tours of the building will immediately follow a brief program.

"All Iowans should be very proud of the leadership that this state and this university have provided in the land-grant movement, and the beautifully restored Morrill Hall stands as a powerful testament to that leadership," said president Gregory Geoffroy. "It is also especially fitting that we are rededicating Morrill Hall as we begin to celebrate the university's 150th anniversary."

Dixon-Fox, of facilities planning and management, has managed the Morrill Hall project over the past five years. She said the completed building actually looks much different inside than envisioned in the original plan.

"In order to maximize the space in the building and the funding available for the project, we had to get very creative," Dixon-Fox said. "Morrill Hall is not a large building, but we took advantage of every square foot of space and every view, so it feels open and connected to central campus."

The interior of the "new" Morrill Hall is spacious and airy - a fact that belies its mere 24,890 gross square feet. Three tenants - University Museums' new Christian Petersen Art Museum, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and the Textiles and Clothing Museum, Center for Visual Learning at Morrill Hall - are getting settled in.

Built in 1890, Morrill Hall never had any major remodeling or upgrading, and it had been unoccupied since 1998. In August 2002, Geoffroy announced a private campaign to raise at least $9 million to renovate it. The campaign became one of the largest grassroots fund-raising efforts in Iowa State's history. More than 3,300 private donors accounted for $7.4 million of the $10.28 million renovation cost. Longtime ISU supporters Lyle and Nancy Campbell made gifts totaling $1.2 million.

"All Iowans should be very proud of the leadership that this state and this university have provided in the land-grant movement, and the beautifully restored Morrill Hall stands as a powerful testament to that leadership."

- President Gregory Geoffroy