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| Evans Complex |
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| 1901 University Avenue |
| Map | ID#: 0011 |
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| Timeline: |
| 1952 |
Music Building constructed |
| 1958 |
English Building renamed for Evans [2] |
| 1959 |
Evans English Building constructed |
| 1964 |
Music Building renamed Music 2 |
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Namesake:
George Evans |
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Architect:
Music - Unknown (1952)
English - Wirtz, Calhoun, Tungate & Jackson (1959) |
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Contractor(s):
Music - Unknown (1952)
English - H.A. Lott, Inc. (1959) |
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The Evans Complex is a four-story classroom and office building along the western edge of the quadrangle. Originally constructed as two separate buildings for music and English classes, the remodeled building houses the departments of English and Foreign Languages.
Music classes were originally located in a small wooden building east of the Industrial Arts Building [1]; these later moved between the Austin and Main buildings before finding a home in the re-purposed, post-1930 Peabody Building. Two decades later, in 1952, the university’s first permanent Music Building was constructed adjacent to the Estill Library. It contained classrooms, offices, and vocal and instrument practice areas. In 1964, with a need for enlarged facilities, this building was rechristened Music 1 and the former Student Union Building was renamed Music 2.
In 1959, the Evans English Building was built between the Music and Graphic Arts buildings. Originally meant for both the Art and English programs [3], the new building “furnished adequate offices for all current staff members, and provided space for the valued Teaching of English laboratory and for a small meeting hall on the ground floor [1]."
Through the miracle of modern construction technology, in the late-1980s, Music 1 and the Evans English Building were combined with the construction of a bridged middle section.
The Texas Review, a literary journal founded by Distinguished Professor of English Paul Ruffin and first published in 1976 (as The Sam Houston Literary Review), has headquarters and offices on the ground floor.
The large cedar tree in the garden behind the complex served as the original university Tree of Lights (1921-66). |
| Photographs |
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An aerial from the 1920s of the southern end of the quadrangle. The large tree n the center of the photo was the original Tree of Lights, used from 1931 to 1966. |
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The Music and English buildings sat together apart for about three decades before extensive remodeling bridged the gap in between. |
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The Music Building, the southern half of the Evans Complex. We're told that its many offices, as evidenced by the number of windows, were once practice rooms for band members. Also, it almost looks like a dedication plaque along the northern edge of the building. |
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The English Building, today's northern half of the Evans Complex. |
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The older the building, the better chance for old signage: the reddish-orange brick of the university's original music building still displays the faded remnants of "Music" on its surface. |
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The oft-rumoured rear-entrance of the Evans Complex and the original Tree of Lights. |
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Sources:
[1] Vision Realized, p.53, 55, 84 (1970)
[2] Minutes from the Board of Regents, February 28, 1958
[3] "Contact" (Art Department newsletter), May 1988 |
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