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OSU Buildings Histories in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center

Building History

A color image of the Gilbert Hall Addition.

 

Purpose-built in 1980 to provide space for Chemistry lab instruction, the Gilbert Addition was recommended in 1975 by Oregon State Board of Education, in part due to safety concerns. In 1977, students signed a petition to save the small park and 11 cedar trees on the proposed site; their request to select an alternate site was denied.  Delivery delays,a labor dispute, and a failed inspection by the Department of Commerce (who said the sink-traps in the lab benches were unsafe) further delayed the completion of the building. Though plans for a name change were made at its completion in 1980, as of 2022 the Gilbert Addition has yet to be renamed.

General Information

Address

2101 SW Campus Way

Architect

Zimmer-Gunsul-Frasca Partnership

Year Built

1980

Renovations

Unknown

Square Footage

49,906

Purpose/Usage

Laboratories and classrooms

Previous Name(s)

N/A

Namesake

E. C. Gilbert, who started as a professor at Oregon Agricultural College (now OSU) in 1917 and was chairman of the chemistry department from 1940 to 1956

Historic District

Yes; Non-Historic Contributing Building 

Blueprints

Facilities Services Records, 1888-2010

Maps

Facilities Services Records, 1888-2003. Series XX:  Campus, Farm, and Property Maps, 1899-1990. Campus and Farm Maps: 3-A

Oregon State University Campus Maps, 1894-1994

Photographs

Oregon State University Historical Photographs, 1868-1980

Further Archival Information

SCARC: Materials documenting the history of the Gilbert Hall Addition can be found in the Facilities Services Records.

Oregon Digital: Contains periodicals regarding the construction and programs within the Gilbert Hall Addition.

Map