Des Moines Register
03-22-07
Vacant ISU hall again stands tall
Sculptor's name graces new art museum located in renovated Morrill Hall at
Iowa State.
By MICHAEL MORAIN
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
When Morrill Hall opened in 1891 in the middle of the Iowa State University
campus, its third-floor museum housed an oddball collection of animal specimens
that must have seemed strange even to vet-med majors.
A stuffed aardvark crouched near an alligator with ferocious jaws. A pair of
stuffed monkeys skittered across a display case nearby.
There was even a camel that had keeled over dead during a circus parade
through Ames sometime in the 1870s.
Years later, when water seeped into the gallery from a burst pipe, the embalmed
camel died a second death: According to campus legend, the soggy beast
exploded.
A similar fate almost befell Morrill Hall itself.
After a century of use - as a chapel, a library, a barber shop, a gym and an
accidental sanctuary for bats - the massive red-brick building was in desperate
disrepair.
Its floors sagged. The slate-tiled roof leaked.
After the last tenants moved out in 1998, a wrecking ball seemed the best way to
put the building out of its misery.
"There were dead animals inside and plants growing through the windows and
walls," said Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy. "It was in sorry condition."
But instead of opting for demolition, Geoffroy and other university leaders
decided to save the beloved building.
After standing vacant for nearly a decade, Morrill Hall reopens today for visitors
to a new museum (this time without the dangerous taxidermy).
The Christian Petersen Art Museum, named for the sculptor who came to Iowa
State in 1934 and became the nation's first artist-in-residence, houses more than
700 of his drawings and sculptures.
Although visitors can expect to see a variety of Petersen's work on display
throughout the building, curators plan to bring new exhibitions by various artists
to both of the museum's two spacious galleries.
The first pair of shows, however, focuses on the museum's namesake.
"The Art Students League of New York: Highlights from the Permanent
Collection," a collection of 75 sculptures and paintings by artists from Petersen's
alma mater, includes early work by Georgia O'Keeffe, Norman Rockwell and
William Merritt Chase.
Along with about 60 sculptures in the downstairs gallery show, "Christian
Petersen: Urban Artist, 1900-1934," the works provide a glimpse into the
sculptor's artistic life in the years between his immigration from Denmark as a
young boy and his move to Iowa from the East Coast.
From what Petersen's granddaughter remembers about him, the soft-spoken
man might not like all the hubbub if he were still around.
"He didn't really want recognition. He was just a passionate artist who loved his
work," said Lynn Lucido of California, one of several of Petersen's descendants
who plans to attend today's opening festivities.
When Lucido visited Iowa State's Brunnier Art Museum a few years ago for a
massive retrospective of her grandfather's work, she and her relatives didn't
know what to expect.
"My sister and I were both shocked because my family didn't really talk about his
art ability. He was just grandfather," she said.
"He was so loved by so many people. We didn't realize that."
In addition to housing the museum, the 116-year-old Morrill Hall houses the
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, as well as a collection of more
than 7,500 pieces in the Center for Visual Learning in Textiles and Clothing.
The conservation lab in the basement includes an oven-sized gizmo to vacuum
odors out of delicate fabrics and artifacts - which might have come in handy with
that camel.
The history of Morrill Hall
1862: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Morrill Act, authored by Sen.
Justin Morrill of Vermont, which allows states to claim federal land for public
universities. A few months later, the Iowa Legislature accepts the provisions of
the act, making Iowa State University the first land-grant school in the country.
1891: June 16 “promises to be a red-letter day,” according to an invitation to the
dedication ceremony of the new Morrill Hall, which cost $28,739 to build. “The
Hall is an admirable work of architectural skill. It contains a chapel with a seating
capacity of six hundred and fifty, a library with a capacity of fifty thousand
volumes, museum, lecture rooms and laboratories for the Departments of Natural
History and Geology.” Iowa State President William Beardshear reports that “the
basement is well utilized by a flourishing gymnasium and rooms for the
preparation of subjects of natural history and display of fishes.”
1893: Artists add frescoes to several walls.
1895: Workers install a pipe organ in the chapel.
1905: Faculty members successfully petition to convert a corner of the basement
into a barber shop, which lasts until the space becomes a file room in 1913.
EARLY 1980s: Construction crews in protective suits remove samples of what
they think is asbestos from the ceiling. The fibrous material is the building’s
original mortar, which contains mule hair as a binding agent.
THROUGH 1998: Various academic departments share the building – including
zoology, entomology, geology and music – as well as the armory and the offices
of public relations, sports information and photography services. When the
agricultural extension office moves out, the building is empty. Some university
leaders want to demolish the building.
2002: After architects inspect the building and declare it structurally sound, Iowa
State President Gregory Geoffroy announces a $10 million fundraising campaign
for renovations for the landmark, which “represents the soul of our land-grant
roots.”
2003: The Des Moines-based design firm RDG drafts plans to accommodate the
Christian Petersen Art Museum, the Center for Visual Learning in Textiles and
Clothing, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and three general
classrooms.
2004: Funds from more than 2,700 private donors finish the fundraising
campaign. The state grants $850,000 for the general classrooms.
2005: Harold Pike Construction of Ames begins work. Crews gut the building
according to the new floor plan and install a new elevator, a loading dock,
bamboo floors, decorative copper trim on the roofline and recycled rubber
shingles designed to look like slate.
2007: Workers complete renovations.
Sources: Iowa State University Archives,
University Relations.
Reporter Michael Morain can be reached at (515) 286-2559 or
mmorain@dmreg.com