Lycoming College - Lycoming College Campus - Past and Present

Old and new come together in this picture showing the newly built Academic Center with Old Main just behind it to the right. The Academic Center was completed in the spring of 1968 and Old Main was torn down in November and December of 1968.

Fred Pennington, Congressman Robert Rich, and President D. Frederick Wertz participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Academic Center. Rich Hall, a women's dormitory, is in the background. The Academic Center was part of the Lycoming College Project. Four buildings were planned for the land acquired from the Williamsport Redevelopment Authority. The description description that follows is based on a Williamsport Sun-Gazette article dated March 14, 1965. The four buildings in the project would be connected and face Ross Street, with entrances on all sides. The facility would have a theater, laboratories, faculty offices, and library. Wagner and Hartman Associates, the architects, designed all units to be constructed of glass and architectural concrete, which was different from the colonial style buildings on the rest of the campus. Parking lots were planned for the area of Little League Boulevard and Mulberry Street.

View, looking northwest, of the construction of the Academic Center on the Lycoming College campus.

View, looking northwest, of construction of the Academic Center in progress. According to an article published in the Fall 1966 'Lycoming Alumni Bulletin', it was necessary to go forty-two feet below grade at the west side of the building by Mulberry Street before pouring the footings. 'More than 36 cubic yards of earth were removed. Structural steel first appeared in the middle of November.'

Aerial view of the campus ca.1948. The architect's design for three new buildings is sketched in the photo. Old Main, the building with two cupolas, faces south. Connected to it by the pedestrian bridge is Bradley Hall. Memorial Hall is north of Bradley Hall. The building beside Bradley Hall is Clarke Building and Chapel. The other building behind Old Main is Hilltop Gymnasium. Behind the gymnasium, the building with columns, is Rich Hall, a women's residence hall. North of Rich Hall, on the corner of the street is the President's House. The white building next to this is the Old Fine Arts Building. The rectangular grassy area with the bleachers on the east side is the Quad. The bleachers are in front of two proposed buildings that are sketched onto the photograph. The building with the columns is Wesley Hall, a men's residence hall. The building sketched next to it is Long Library. Another building is sketched across the open area Behind Memorial Hall and east of Bradley Hall. The nature of that building is being investigated.

Architect's scale model of the Lycoming College Campus in 1968, most likely before the construction of the Academic Center. The top of this photograph is the south. At the top right of the layout is the Academic Center, which faces the parking lot on the south. To the left, across the street, is Hilltop Gymnasium. Across from the gym is Old Main. Left of Old Main is Bradley Hall. To its southeast is the Old Science Building. To the left of the gym is the Clarke Building and Chapel. Between Bradley Hall and the Chapel is Memorial Hall. Behind Memorial Hall is a dormitory, Skeath Hall. Another dormitory, Asbury Hall, is across from Skeath at the left of the photo. In front of Crever Hall is Long Hall, the buiding with the white clock tower. Long Hall faces the Quad, the large, open area. Next to it is Wesley Hall, a dormitory. On the corner next to Wertz is East Hall dormitory. West of East Hall on the corner are the Fine Arts Building and the President's house. Across from the President's House is a dormitory, Williams Hall. Next to Williams Hall is another dormitory, Crever Hall. Across the street from Williams Hall and Crever Hall is Wertz Student Center. Next to Wertz, the building with the white cupola, is Rich Hall, another dormitory.

Autumnal view, from above, of Clarke Building and Chapel. The building behind the chapel with the cupola is Long Hall, which houses administrative offices. Dormitories are in the background.

Eight participants in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Heim Biology and Chemistry Building lift shovelfuls of sod. Pictured, l. to r., are: Robert Shangraw, Chairman; Dr. David Franz, Chemistry professor; Melody Griese, Chemistry major '89; Eric Shuster, Contractor; Melissa Walters, Biology major '89; Dr. Robert Angstadt, Biology professor; Clifford Hayes, Architect; Frederick Blumer, President of Lycoming College. Forrest Hall can be seen at the right.

Photo of the construction of John W. Long Library (now Long Hall, an administration building). The John W. Long Library was built in 1950-51, and named in honor of John W. Long, president of Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, which later became Lycoming College, from 1921-1955. The clock face was installed in the tower in 1959. The building was home to the library until 1968, when the Academic Center was constructed. It now is the residence of administrative offices.

A view of the Old Fine Arts Building looking west from the stairs ascending from the Quad. The Fine Arts Center, consisting of eighteen rooms, was opened to the public in 1940. A plaque inside the portico in the front of the building read: 'This Fine Arts Building and President's residence were made possible by the gifts of Mr. and Mrs. William Fleming Rich and Family.' On back: 'Return Naomi Woolever, Williamsport Sun-Gazette.'