Peters Hall

Date

1887-present

Location

50 North Professor Street

Architects/Collaborators

Weary & Kramer, Akron (architects)
Doerzbach and Decker, Sandusky, OH (contractors)
1997 renovation: Peter van Dijk of van Dijk, Pace, Westlake, Architects, Cleveland

Style

Victorian Romanesque and Queen Anne

History

Ground was broken for Peters Hall in the spring of 1885 and it was dedicated on January 26, 1887. The building was made possible by gifts from Captain Alva Bradley, of Cleveland, Ohio, and from Hon. Richard G. Peters of Manistee, Michigan. Peters Hall is constructed of Amherst sandstone, three stories in height. It was the first campus building to be equipped with a modern forced-air heating and ventilation system. Its most striking feature is its central court, two stories in height, which became the main campus meeting place for generations of students. In addition to lecture/recitation rooms, Peters contained the Physics laboratories, special accommodations for work in Astronomy, and offices. The Auditorium, formerly known as Bradley Auditorium, later accommodated portions of the laboratory equipment of the departments of Psychology and Physics. The fireplace was designed by Professor Charles H. Churchill and given by the class of 1893. A tower was built for the observatory, which wasn't fabricated and installed until 1929.

As early as 1911, the College considered tearing Peters Hall down to make way for an ambitious bell tower complex envisioned by Cass Gilbert as the central component of an axial plan for the campus. This plan stalled at various times during the 20th century. Mudd Learning Center was at its early conception stage to occupy the Peters Hall site, but strong support from Oberlin’s alumni community ensured Peters would remain standing. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Oberlin College thematic nomination in 1978. Peters Hall was listed by the City of Oberlin as an Oberlin City Landmark in 1975. When Peters Hall was again considered for demolition in 1992, President Fred Starr, a committed preservationist, led an effort to save it. Nearly 1,400 donors ranging from the class of 1918 to the class of 1996 contributed to save Peters and renovate it. Planning for the renovation began in 1993, with a vision of Peters Hall taking on a new “international identity,” by housing the modern language departments, area studies programs, study away counseling, ESL, the language lab, international student advising, and the Shansi Memorial Association. The Cleveland architectural firm, van Dijk, Pace, Westlake, was awarded the contract, and construction was begun in 1994. The renovation, which included structural and cosmetic improvements, resulted in the addition of a fourth floor, new classrooms, language department offices, a state-of-the-art language lab, and, at the top of the building, new and safer access to the observatory and viewing deck. After renovations were completed, the college held a rededication ceremony on October 11, 1997.

Sources

Geoffrey Blodgett, Oberlin Architecture, College and Town: A Guide to Its Social History (Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, 1985), 3-4.

Oberlin College Archives, College General Records, Buildings and Dedications.