The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Carnegie Hall

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Institution Name: Allegheny College
Original/Historic Place Name: Carnegie Hall
Location on Campus: south end of campus, north of Loomis St.
Date(s) of Construction:

1915	original Whitfield, Henry D.
1965	renovation Stotz, Hess & MacLachlin
1991	renovation Hunter, Heiges, Sabo, Douglass, Rogers

Designer: Henry D. Whitfield (New York); Stotz, Hess & MacLachlin; Hunter, Heiges, Sabo, Douglass, Rogers
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Romanesque revival, Beaux-Arts classicism (Glossary)
Significance: education
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone

Walls: buff taffeta brick with artifical stone trimming

Roof: red Spanish tile

Function:

ca. 1915	academic department building (chemistry)
ca. 2004-present (2006)	academic department building (psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy and religious studies)

Narrative:
When the Chemistry Department was displaced by the fire destroying Alden Hall in 1915, Allegheny College became the recipient of Andrew Carnegie's legendary philanthropy through matching-fund gifts to rebuild Alden and erect a state-of-the-art building for the Chemistry Department. Carnegie Hall, which is of course named for Mr. Carnegie, is also built in the style that unified the building projects of that period. The building was completely renovated in 1965 by Stotz, Hess & MacLachlin, at which time stairwells were added at the east and west sides of the building, improving access and safety but disrupting its original silhouette and proportions. To keep this heavily trafficked classroom building up to date, interior spaces continue to be enhanced. In 1991, the building was renovated once again by Hunter, Heiges, Sabo, Douglass, Rogers; and a few years later an interactive, technologically-enhanced learning environment, as well as neuroscience laboratories, were added.

References:

Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates. Deferred Maintenance and Building Renovation Cost Study [Allegheny College]. Report. [Pittsburgh, PA: Burt Hill Kosar Rittelman Associates], 1999.

Celli Flynn Brennan. Campus Master Plan [Allegheny College]. [Pittsburgh, PA: Celli Flynn Brennan], 2002.

Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates. Allegheny 2000. Master plan. [Belmont, MA: Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates], 1987.

Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates. Heart of the Campus Report [Allegheny College]. [Belmont, MA: Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates], 1987.

Helmreich, Jonathan E. Historic Campus Tour. Meadville, PA: Allegheny College, 2001.

Helmreich, Jonathan E. Through All the Years: A Browser's History of Allegheny College [working title for publication celebrating College Bicentennial]. Meadville, PA: Allegheny College, forthcoming.

"Old Allegheny." Allegheny College Bulletin (January 1922).

Rolland/Towers. Campus Master Plan [Allegheny College]. [New Haven, CT: Rolland/Towers], 1992.

Smith, Ernest Ashton. Allegheny College--A Century of Education. Meadville, PA: Tribune Publishing Company, 1916.

Stephens, D. M. Old Allegheny: A Handbook of Information. Meadville, PA: Allegheny College, 1921.

Stotz, Charles M. The Early Architecture of Western Pennsylvania. New York: William Helburn, Inc., for the Buhl Foundation, 1936.