The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Classic Hall

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Classic Hall (rear view), Central Methodist University

Institution Name: Central Methodist University
Original/Historic Place Name: Classic Hall
Location on Campus: Across from Howard Payne Dormitory
Date(s) of Construction:

1911	original construction

Designer: unknown
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Beaux-Arts classicism (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, culture, education, history
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone

Walls: brick

Roof: asphalt shingle

Function:

ca. 1911	faculty offices
ca. 1911	classrooms
ca. 2004-present (2006)	other (vacant)

Narrative:
This Beaux-Arts building with identical front and back facades was constructed as a classroom building for the Howard-Payne Junior College for Women. Interesting features include four smooth dressed stone panels with diamond shaped inserts per façade, two chimneys featuring three decorative steps offset left and right, a raised basement, and a boxed cornice with plain brackets. The interior originally featured a large auditorium for plays and recitals on the second floor with a grand staircase. The interior has been remodeled several times, with the last renovation completed in 1967. The only alterations on the exterior are different windows and a side entrance.

Classic Hall cost over $40,000 to construct, and Howard-Payne College never financially recovered from this drain on its resources. The debt forced Howard-Payne to merge with Central College in 1923.

References:

Central Methodist College Campus Master Plan. Central Methodist University, Fayette, MO.

McVicker, Maryellen H., Larry Dimond, June Thade, Bartlett Jones, and Sue Koch. Central Methodist College Campus Historic District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1980.

Tucker, Frank C. Central Methodist College: One Hundred and Ten Years. Nashville: Parthenon Press, 1967.