Whatever its amenities, no modern structure can capture the appeal of an old, world-class building restored to its former glory.
If you don't believe it, take a look at Old Main, the flagship building of Utah State University in Logan, the principal Utah example of the "Campus Romanesque" architectural style of the late 19th century.Originally constructed in 1889 on College Hill, overlooking Logan, Old Main is the oldest continuously occupied building at an institution of higher learning in Utah.
Over the years, the college building has housed virtually every university department, including a gymnasium, a library, dormitories, classrooms, chapel, auditorium, administrative offices - even living quarters for the president.
The south wing was completed first at a cost of $20,528, and on Feb. 22, 1890, school started with 22 students and eight faculty members. By the end of the first school year, the agricultural college had 139 students. The second year, the faculty increased from eight to 14, and student enrollment grew to 296.
In 1893, the north and east wings were completed, but Old Main was not finished until 1902, when the west wing and bell tower were built.
Although the gymnasium occupied the entire third floor of the north wing, Old Main was constructed with no indoor restroom facilities and no dressing rooms for athletic events. That problem was alleviated in the late 1890s when two restrooms were constructed in the basement of the south wing.
The men's room doubled as a dressing room, but it was a long run from the basement of the south wing to the third floor of the north wing. Female instructors were infuriated at the sight of male bare legs negotiating the halls and stairs.
On Dec. 19, 1983, with finals over and the campus nearly deserted, a blast on the third floor of the north wing started a fire that destroyed that floor, the attic and roof of Old Main.
During the three-hour struggle to extinguish the blaze, firefighters reported that as much as 6 inches of water ran through the corridors as thousands of gallons of water were poured over the fire. Resulting water damage was more severe than that attributed to the fire.
But the Logan community was not about to let Old Main slip down the drain. The desire to save the flagship building of the university quickly spread from alumni and citizens groups to the Utah Leg-is-lature.
Within days, Architectural Design West, the firm founded by K.C. Shaub, one of the original Old Main architects, was retained to rehabilitate the historic structure.
Fifteen years and $18 million later, the impressive three-phase project is complete.
Scott Theobald, the lead architect, grew up in Los Angeles. He completed graduate studies at the University of Utah, then spent 12 years in New York, where he gained a strong appreciation for history and educational buildings.
Theobald returned to Utah just in time to get involved in the Old Main project. He never intended a restoration, in which the new building would be historically accurate in every detail.
Rather, he saw it as rehabilitation, a process that would retain the attractive turn of the century exterior and "be sensitive to the historical fabric," while adapting the building, especially the interior woodwork and detailing, to the needs of a modern era.
In so doing, he has not only created an architectural showpiece but a building that meets current seismic codes. This was accomplished by removing the interior brick as it was determined that the existing stone footings would not support additional loading. The next step was to build a new structural shell within the building that would tie the old brick to the new struc-ture.
Because the original building was heated by an old steam radiator system, no one thought of installing ductwork, cable trays and other now-standard heating materials. The result was that the engineers added 2 feet to the depth of the building.
According to Theobald, "It was pretty scary. You have to be careful about it. You do alternating 10-foot sections at a time, you dig out the footings and put concrete under it, pack it real good, then do the alternate ones between those. If we had had seismic activity, we could easily have toppled the whole building."
University officials were especially interested in maintaining Old Main as a multiuse building where students, faculty and administrators would frequently interact. Design West's plan required that the antiquated auditorium - an especially sentimental part of the building, including two stories and a balcony - be replaced by a dozen classrooms.
Theobald says, "The auditorium wasn't big enough to have major lectures, and the stage was min-i-mal."
Now, consistent with its tradition, Old Main has the highest percentage of teaching classrooms of any building on the USU campus.
Perhaps the major challenge for the architect and contractor was creating an entrance from the campus side of the building while retaining its historic integrity. The contractor took down the fire escape and replaced it with a plaza and entry tower, including stairwell, three floors and stained glass in the overhang.
The key, says Theobald, was to find materials that matched the rest of the building. Scouring for brick at the old Lehi school near the flour mills brought encouragement. Today, the match is so close that most observers are surprised to learn that the yellow brickwork on the back entrance is a completely new wing.
In old photographs, Theobald noticed cast iron columns, some of which had been either buried or obscured over the years. He and his associates found the columns and used them as ornamental touches around the elevators.
"A lot of people say it is a lost art, but we were really pleased with the high level of craftsmanship we were able to get in the building," says Theobald. He is referring to the massive amounts of woodwork, including round arches over the windows, completed mostly by local craftsmen.
Several years ago, Theobald remembers going to work in the dark, working all day in a windowless office, then going home in the dark. "It was awful," he says.
Naturally, he was determined to make windows universal in Old Main. "For me and my company, it's really important to have buildings with natural lighting. From a wellness standpoint, people like contact with the outside."
Not only did he get windows in every room except one, but he got windows in the corridors and stairways as well. He recalls that in New York, school officials were more concerned for safety from physical attack than they were about being trapped in a fire.
"So they allowed windows from corridors into stairways. Although our local code says you can't put windows in corridors and stairways, I was able to convince the fire marshal to let us to do it. So we have a special fire-rated glass that is no safety hazard."
Theobald is especially proud of a roof-top balustrade on the west tower. "I was looking at an old yearbook from Brigham Young Col-lege, which used to be in Logan, and there was an advertisement for Utah State, which had just opened, and I saw this little balustrade on the porch."
Curious that the balustrade was missing, he studied the west tower and found weathering impressions around the brick, enabling him to determine the exact shape and duplicate it.
Today, Old Main consists of 156,000 square feet of space, including 24,000 square feet of previously unused attic space. The exterior cupolas and towers have been restored or replaced.
The chapel is retained as a grand, historic space but transformed into a museum. Most important, leaded glass windows and stained glass that were once part of the chapel are newly installed in the museum space.
No wonder the Utah Heritage Society bestowed one of its coveted awards to those creative souls who resurrected Old Main and dressed it up to last for another 100 years.