T-W Buildings

Taylor Tower
Thompson (William Oxley) Library
Thompson (William Oxley) Statue
Townshend Hall
University Hall
Vivian Hall
Weigel Hall
Wexner Center
Wilce Student Health Center
Wiseman Hall
Women's Field House

Taylor Tower

The building was officially named on Sept. 7, 1962, in memory of Jacob B. Taylor, a University Vice President and Treasurer who led Ohio State’s post-World War II expansion program.

Construction began in the spring of 1965 and was completed for occupancy on December 9, 1966.

Originally an all-women’s dormitory, it has been designated as housing for Ohio State’s honors program students in recent years.

Jacob Taylor’s academic career at the University of Pennsylvania was interrupted by World War II, during which he spent two years as a sergeant for the Army Corps of Engineers in France. After the war ended, he returned to the university and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1921. Taylor arrived at Ohio State in 1927 as an associate professor of accounting; he was named chairman of the department three years later. He was appointed the university’s business manager in 1946 and was promoted to vice president in 1948. The Ohio State recognized his leadership and service with its Distinguished Service Award in 1952.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Taylor Tower

Thompson (William Oxley) Library

The first library on campus opened with the first classes in University Hall, the only building on campus when the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College began in 1873. The library was located on the first floor, right off the main entrance. Students were allowed to withdraw books on Tuesdays and Fridays from 1:30 pm until 2:00 pm.

When the library outgrew its space in 1884, it was moved to the east end of the building on the third floor. The library remained in University Hall until 1893.

When Orton Hall was built in 1893, as the first fire-proof building on campus, many felt it was the logical location for the library. The original plans for the library in Orton Hall included two large rooms used for books and reading and three smaller rooms in the basement used for storage. Three years later, in 1896, a gallery was added to the library due to lack of space for students and books.

The following year Olive Branch Jones, university librarian, emphasized in her annual report the pressing need for a separate library building. This condition lasted until 1913 when the “New Library” was built. It was officially named the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library in 1951 in honor of the fifth president of the university. Dedication ceremonies included a lecture by Luther Evans (Librarian of Congress), a band concert and tours of the library’s new stack tower.

The building was expanded in 1951 (stack tower and wings) and again in 1977 (back addition). In 2006, the wings and old back addition were removed. The newly renovated Thompson Library re-opened in 2009.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Thompson (William Oxley) Library

Thompson (William Oxley) Statue

Because of their admiration for President William Oxley Thompson, the classes of 1923, 1925, 1926, and 1928 resolved to create a “life-sized” figure of the president to stand on the west end of the Oval.

The sculptor, Erwin Frey, was an Ohio native and faculty member in the Department of Fine Arts, as well as a well-known sculptor at the time (1927-1962). The sculpture took 16 months to complete and was first done in clay and then cast in bronze. Frey was given $13,000 for the statue, including the supplies.

President Thompson sat for the sculpture, and was very pleased with Frey’s work, calling it worthy of high praise. Thompson wrote in his July 1930 column of The Ohio State University Monthly: “nothing in my long experience has moved me more profoundly than this evidence of esteem and good will which the cooperative effort of four classes has expressed.”

Townshend Hall

Townshend Hall was officially named on May 19, 1896, to honor Dr. Norton S. Townshend, one of seven founding faculty when the University opened its doors in 1873. Townshend was also one of the first Board of Trustees members, a position he resigned to become the university’s first professor of agriculture.

Townshend Hall served as the home of the College of Agriculture until the Agricultural Administration Building was completed in 1956. The building was completed in January 1898, and it is an example of the Second Renaissance Revival style, characterized by a Doric entry porch, hipped clay-tile roof and wide eaves with arcaded windows.

In 1984, the Department of Psychology, which had been divided between four different buildings, was consolidated into Townshend and Lazenby Halls. (The psychology department moved into its own building in 2005.)

Also, ever notice its odd positioning? The Rail-Light Company was considering extending its streetcar line through campus on Neil Avenue to serve the former Olentangy Amusement Park (now Olentangy Village). The University’s Board of Trustees was not so keen on this plan and decided to block it—literally. This explains why Neil Avenue, though continuous, is not straight behind the Thompson Library.

The building is currently the home of the Department of Sociology.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Townshend Hall

University Hall

On the first day of classes in September 1873, the students entered an unfinished University Hall. This first building on campus was a classroom building, library, administrative office building, and it had apartments for faculty and dormitory rooms for male students. [The students moved out when the first dormitory opened in 1874.] It even housed the Geology Museum until Orton Hall opened in 1893. University Hall had a chapel as well, which was originally used for a daily religious service.

In the spring of 1968 concern about the building’s structural integrity led to a study of its safety. It was determined to be unsafe, and on May 9, 1968, the Board of Trustees instructed the administrative officials of the university to move everything out of the building. University Hall was torn down in September 1971.

Today’s University Hall occupies almost exactly the same spot as the original University Hall (it is slightly east). When original University Hall was torn down, there was a lot of discussion over which architectural style the new building should have. Eventually, university officials decided to make the new University Hall look the same as the original building on the outside. Although less ornamental, and smaller, today’s University Hall is still a landmark on campus. It was completed in 1976.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: University Hall  (First building: 1873-1971)

John H. Herrick Archives: University Hall  (Second building: 1976-current)

Vivian Hall

Vivian Hall was built in 1951 as the Agricultural Laboratories building and named in 1958 after Alfred Vivian, former Dean of the College of Agriculture.

Alfred Vivian graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1894, and soon after, he took a job at an experiment station as an assistant to an agricultural chemist. Vivian later said that he had never wanted to teach, but when his supervisor became ill and no replacement lecturer could be found for a 40-lecture course, Vivian stepped up and apparently never looked back.

His move to Ohio State was just as surprising: An acquaintance had heard that Ohio State was reorganizing its agricultural chemistry department, and wrote to Columbus about Vivian without telling him. Vivian joined the faculty in 1902 as an assistant professor. In 1907 he was appointed head of the department and was named Dean of the College of Agriculture in 1915. He served as Dean Emeritus after his retirement in 1932.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Vivian Hall

Weigel Hall

Construction on Weigel Hall, which houses the School of Music’s administrative offices, began in June of 1977 and was completed during the first week of June 1979. It was named by the Board of Trustees on May 4, 1979.  Weigel Hall includes a 720-seat auditorium, as well as practice rooms, rehearsal halls and studios.

The building is named after Eugene J. Weigel, perhaps best known as the man who created the famous “Script Ohio” formation for the Ohio State Marching Band. He served as its director from 1929 to 1938. Under his leadership, the supervision of the band transferred from the Department of Military Science to the School of Music; the entrance to the Stadium ramp incorporated the herald trumpet fanfare and the band playing the Buckeye Battle Cry; and the band transformed from the traditional woodwind, brass and percussion to all-brass and percussion – the first all-brass college band in the U.S.

Weigel graduated from Ohio State in 1928. After a year overseeing Cleveland Public Schools’ music program, he returned to his alma mater as the band director. In his early career as a professor of music at Ohio State, he also directed Symphonic Band, the Little Symphony and the four ROTC regimental bands. He was named the chairman of Ohio State’s department of music in 1940, and director of the School of Music in 1945. He retired from that position in 1959.

He was also involved in many community music performances, from bands to opera. His awards include a lifetime membership in Ohio State’s alumni band and the University’s Service Award (1960).

Eugene Weigel died in August 1973.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Weigel Hall

Wexner Center

The Wexner Center for the Arts was built on the site of the old Armory at a cost of about $45 million, and opened in 1989.

Dedicated to visual arts, particularly those using technologies such as video, computer graphics and electronic image processing, it was the first museum of its kind to include in its mission research and teaching.

For the building’s design, the university held a contest, and the winning team was composed of Peter Eisenman of New York and Richard Trott of Columbus. The design includes a large, white metal grid meant to suggest scaffolding to give the building a sense of incompleteness. In that way, the walkway signifies the future, which, combined with the section of the building that resembles the Armory’s turret, represents a passage from past to future.

In 2002 the building underwent a $10 million renovation to fix structural flaws that resulted in too much sunlight, temperature swings and water seeping down walls.

The building is named after Harry L. Wexner, father of Leslie H. Wexner, founder of Limited Brands and current chair of the Board of Trustees.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Wexner Center

Wilce Student Health Center

Officially the “John W. Wilce Student Health Center,” the building opened in November 1969.

Wilce was the head football coach at Ohio State from 1913 to 1928, and he used his salary to help pay for medical school. In 1919 he received his PhD in Medicine from the University of Chicago, and he served as director of the Ohio State University Health Service from 1934 until his retirement in 1958. Wilce is also a member of the National Football Hall of Fame.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Wilce Student Health Center

Wiseman Hall

The original portion of the building (south side) was completed on Feb. 1, 1960. In 1966 an addition was built on the north side of the building; it was completed by October 1968.

The Board of Trustees originally named the building “Health Center Research Laboratories” in 1959, but voted on September 13, 1963, to change the name to Wiseman Hall.

Bruce Kenneth Wiseman was born in South Bend, Indiana, on March 1, 1896. After graduating from high school, he took a job with the Eli Lilly Company as a chemist. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to pursue a career in medicine.

Wiseman first received a bachelor of science degree in 1926, then a medical degree in 1928, both from Indiana University. After an internship at Indianapolis City Hospital, he landed a position as a researcher in the department of bacteriology and pathology at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. There, he worked with Dr. Charles Doan, who would later serve as director of University Hospital.

At Doan’s request, Wiseman came to Ohio State in 1936 as an associate professor of medicine. The two continued to collaborate on research, particularly in regards to hematological disorders. 

Wiseman later served as a professor of medicine, chairman of the Department of Medicine, and chief of staff of Ohio State Hospitals. He also was a member of the AMA, OSMA, International Society of Hematology, and several other professional organizations.

Dr. Wiseman died on March 15, 1960.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Wiseman Hall

Women’s Field House

An example of the Tudor Revivalist style, the Women’s Field House was completed in the spring of 1927.

A barn—the first structure built by the university in 1871—had been demolished, and stone from the barn was incorporated into the new building.

In 2002, the building, (all 100 tons of it), was rolled farther west need toward Cannon Drive to make room for construction of the RPAC.

more information:
John H. Herrick Archives: Women’s Field House