Name: Maloney Hall. Full name Martin Maloney Chemical Laboratory. Named for Martin Maloney, a papal marquis from Philadelphia, Pa., who gave $120,000 for main building and $100,000 for the auditorium.
Date: Dedicated: Nov. 1917. Phase two: 1926.
Architect: Murphy & Olmsted
Builder: Charles J. Cassidy
Permit: # 218
Elevation: 185.32'
Use: Department of Chemistry. Classrooms, laboratories and auditorium.
Style: Collegiate Gothic
Composition: Symmetrical, T-shaped with auditorium in rear.
Size: Two stories, one block long.
Gross square footage—48,200.
Net square footage—49,895.
Materials: Port Deposit rusticated granite walls with Indiana limestone trim.
Trim: Carved limestone detailing at entrance including a Maloney crest above raised entrance, water table, horizontal banding between first and second stories, simple parapet with minor finials.
Roof: Steel trusses carrying a concrete deck and red tile in a low hip.
Windows: Metal awning sash, paired on basement andsecond-floor levels, large-scale triple arch-headed sash on main level, assemblages of six sash above entrance on second and third stories.
Doors: Miscellaneous, with main entrance now for emergency use only.
Note: Maloney Hall was originally equipped with state-of-the-art mechanical equipment for laboratory and auditorium use. This included a vapor and gas evacuation system to serve the labs. The auditoriumhad approximately 500 seats and was originally equipped for projection of slides and movies.
Setting: Maloney Hall faces Michigan Avenue, N.E., away from the main campus and no longer provides normal access through the front entry. Michigan Avenue, a busy urban street, intersects John McCormack Road, N.E., just east of the building. The building has foundation planting.
Architecture: Maloney Hall is a purpose-built structure with a restrained collegiate facade. There is a Tudor overtone to the Collegiate Gothic style at the entry, in the lobby and in the auditorium. The rusticated granite exterior and its Collegiate Gothic style help the buildingblend with others along the Michigan Avenue boundary of the campus. The exterior gives no clue to the laboratory functions within. Sadly the grand main entrance with its split, double entry stair does not relate to the campus because Michigan Avenue was aligned to meet abridge across the multiple railroad tracks to the east.This configuration changed substantially after the building’s construction. The auditorium stands behind the symmetrical building as a striking square pavilion with matching architectural character.
History: Maloney Hall, dedicated in 1917, was designed and built as a cutting-edge chemical laboratory. On the heels of World War I, it no doubt benefitted from the momentum of chemistry as a defense interest. It also provided modern slide and movie projection facilities in its auditorium design. Clearly the donor’s directive to provide a setting to aid development of chemical science succeeded.
Significance: Maloney Hall by virtue of its age, continued use and architectural distinction has great merit as an important campus element. Historically, it is significant in its early-20th-century facilities for laboratory work and auditorium presentations. It has provided a specialized scientific breadth to the university’s role in the city and the nation. The architects, Murphy & Olmsted, were most prominent and prolific in designing campus buildings. Maloney Hall is a contributing building to the architectural and historic qualities of the campus.
Condition: The primary building systems, including the windows and roof, and the service systems, including the heating, ventilating and air conditioning, are in urgent need of capital replacement. The unreliable mechanical and electrical systems in the buildings are expected to worsen rapidly. The increased use of sophisticated equipment has created new power demands. Fume hoods, laboratory figures, auditorium and instructional areas need to be upgraded to maintain the level of teaching and research activities occurring in the facility. The external entrances are deteriorating and accessibility features need to be added. The cost for a comprehensive rehabilitation project to continue to use the building for chemistry programs may be prohibitive.
Floor Plans
Last Revised 04-Oct-05 11:37 AM.
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