From the Kansas State University Student Catalog, 1965-66 (page 146).
The relocation of Counseling Services to Sunset Avenue not only prompted discoveries in offices long-occupied by English Department faculty in Eisenhower Hall and Leasure Hall, as documented in last week’s post.
The move also made visible original features of the building known first as the Student Health Center and then as Lafene until, in 2004, it began its second life as the English Counseling Services Building (ECS).
From the Kansas State University Student Catalog, 1965-66 (page 145).
Below are some discoveries, as we prepared to move into the second floor space:
Wall sconces illuminate former hospital rooms on the southeast end of the 2nd floor corridor. Whether shining light on the patient (as above) or on the ceiling (as below), these lighting fixtures, along with the gurney-sized doorways, are daily reminders of the building’s original purpose.
Wooden closets and storage drawers, built into the room, join the wall sconces in these former hospital rooms.
At some point in time, at least part of the 2nd floor hallway was painted light blue. Other hallway paint colors we’ve discovered, in addition to the current light purple: white, cream, and gray.
Hanging on the wall in the hallway: a framed, hand-drawn floor plan of the 2nd floor with evacuation routes marked in red ink.
Installed above the framed evacuation route: two generations of fire alarms.
Posted inside a storage area: guidelines for making emergency announcements that would broadcast throughout all three floors — all six “Zones” — of the building.
The floor plan shows the functions assigned to rooms throughout the building. Above: a detail of the second floor, identified as “Hospital,” with some “Administrative Offices.”
On the plan for the first floor, the present alternates with the past. Rooms 101-105 and 129-131 are similarly-sized offices today, for instance. The “Dining Room” became our first floor seminar room and an office, while the Writing Center and offices reside where the “Kitchen” used to be.
On the basement level, the Boiler Room remained a constant following the 2004 renovation, but Physical Therapy (PT) and Laboratory spaces transformed into our large GTA offices (ECS 007 and ECS 008), and the “Storeroom” with its patient files became our Literature and Film Classroom (ECS 017).
Still looking shiny, even after 50+ years: the light grey-green accent finish on the elevator and its original, ceiling-mounted sign.
In the weeks ahead, stay tuned for updates about our renovations to the ECS space, the landscaping of the old Circle Drive area, and plans for the building’s name, as we make a new home for English as of 2018.
K-State English 