The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Kenarden Lodge

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Institution Name: College of Wooster
Original/Historic Place Name: Kenarden Lodge
Location on Campus: 1209 North Bever
Date(s) of Construction:

1911	original construction Holden, Lansing C.
1991-1992	remodeled

Designer: Lansing C. Holden
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Gothic revival, Other (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, culture
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: brick and concrete block

Walls: brick

Roof: asphalt shingles

Function:

ca. 1911-present (2006)

residence hall

Narrative:
Kenarden Lodge (built in 1911) is a residence hall built and named by Mrs. John S. Kennedy. It accommodates 141 students. Emma Baker Kennedy, wife of New York banker John Stewart Kennedy, named the dormitory after their summer home at Bar Harbor, Maine. Completely remodeled in 1991-1992, Kenarden Lodge continues to serve as a residence hall, housing 141 students.

The College's traditions relating to men's social clubs date to Kenarden Lodge's early years. When national fraternities were banned, men's social clubs were housed in Kenarden at a time when the building's seven vertical sections each had their own entrance. These groups thus became known as "sections" (e.g. 1st section, 2nd section, etc.) in accordance with their location in Kenarden, and these designations hold to the present day, despite the fact that the groups also have Greek names are no longer are housed in Kenarden.

References:

Notestein, Lucy Lilian. Wooster of the Middle West. New Haven: Published for the College of Wooster by Yale University Press, 1937. Reprint, Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1971.