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http://www.pjstar.com/stories/041908/REG_BGCRB060.033.php
ISU dorms honored at ceremony
Historic Dunn-Barton
and Walker halls will be demolished this summer
4/19/2008
Peoria Journal Star
Steve Stein
NORMAL - The Dunn-Barton Residence Halls were built in 1951. Walker
Residence Hall was built in 1955.
Together, they've been home to
nearly 50,000 Illinois State University students during a combined 110 years
of service.
"And that doesn't count the
thousands who have been snuck in and out of these buildings through the
years, but I don't want to go there," said Steve Adams, ISU vice president
of student affairs.
Humor like that - and poignant
comments - dominated a "decommissioning" ceremony Friday for the venerable
but aging red brick buildings, three of the oldest residence halls on
campus.
The ceremony took place next to
a sand volleyball court in the mini-quad between Dunn-Barton and Walker,
which are not air-conditioned and have an underground passage between them.
The residence halls will be
demolished this summer to make way for the $43.9 million Student Fitness and
Kinesiology and Recreation Center, which will become the largest building on
campus.
State Sen. Dan Rutherford,
R-Chenoa, who lived in Walker from 1974 to 1976, told stories about the
good-natured pranks pulled during his days there and proudly pointed out
that ISU's first "streaker" was a Walker resident.
"More importantly, so many friendships were
made in these buildings, which is the real testament to the bricks and
mortar," Rutherford said.
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