Finding Aid for Building Plans and Specifications, 1927-1998 | University of Illinois Archives

Title: Building Plans and Specifications, 1927-1998

ID: 37/2/810

Primary Creator: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Division of Architecture

Extent: 1.0 cubic feet

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Subjects: Altgeld Hall, Building Plans, Illini Hall, Illini Union, Library

Languages: English

Building Plans and Specifications including blue prints for University Library (1936 floor plan), Mary E. Busey Hall (1938), Laura B. Evans hall (1940), Illini Hall (1941).  Illini Union Building (1943), and General Work Specifications for Sixth Floor Addition to the Library (1948).  The series includes plans and specifications for the fifth addition to the University Library (1938), Gregory Hall (1939), McKinley Health Center addition (1939), the 1955-56 addition to Altgeld Hall, program statements for Krannert Art Museum (1986) and International Studies Building (1990), and the Special Materials Storage Facility, 1993. The series includes the 1998 Boneyard Creek Flood Control materials for the Joint Agency Permit Application (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency).

The position of Supervising Architect was created on June 4, 1907.¹ The Department of Buildings and Grounds was placed under the direction of the Supervising Architect in July 1912.² On May 22, 1934 the Supervising Architect's Office became the Physical Plant Department.³ In the University statutes adopted by the Board of Trustees on March 10, 1936, the duties of the Department comprised seven functions of which the two major ones were operation and maintenance and architecture.⁴ By 1948 the Department had two division, Architecture and Buildings and Grounds.⁵

The Architectural Division was responsible for the supervision of all new construction on the Champaign-Urbana campus, from the time of the development of preliminary drawings and specifications until the time of construction and occupancy. It served as a liaison with the Board of Trustees in hiring architects. The Division worked with operational systems to see that they were compatible with other University functions, worked with the contractor, checked out buildings and, in some instances, acted as its own architect in doing small designing and remodeling.

In 1967 there was a complete reorganization and the Architectural Division disappeared. Alterations to existing buildings became the responsibility of Campus Directors of Physical Plant while planning and construction of new buildings, additions to existing buildings, landscape and site development related to these projects, and land acquisition (excluding the Airport, Allerton Park, experimental farms and areas, and properties maintained by the Athletic Association) became the responsibility of the University Director of Physical Plant, Planning and Construction.⁶

1. Board of Trustees Transactions, 24th Report, June 4, 1907, pp. 107-08.

2. Board of Trustees Transactions, 27th Report, July 5, 1912, p. 67.

3. Board of Trustees Transactions, 37th Report, May 22, 1934, p. 568.

4. Board of Trustees Transactions, 38th Report, March 10, 1936, p. 595.

5. Faculty Directory 1948-49, p. 38.

6. Board of Trustees Transactions, 54th Report, Oct. 16, 1967, pp. 771-72.

Altgeld Hall
Building Plans
Illini Hall
Illini Union
Library

Repository: University of Illinois Archives

Accruals: 9/1963; 9/26/1972; 6/1995; 7/12/2007

Other Note: 0 Pages

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/3702810.pdf

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