Until this afternoon I’d never seen a photo of Martel College construction. Now I’ve seen one, but it’s a real beauty, an aerial taken in January 2001:
So much has changed since then but what I’m stuck on is the parking lot behind Abercrombie. What was that lot called?
Here’s a nice piece about Mr. Martel and his generosity to Rice, written in the wake of the Martel Foundation’s gift that made the construction possible:
Bonus: And here are some real rascals. That’s Speros Martel shaking hands with Hackerman and Ralph O’Connor and Karen George are at left. Based on Karen’s outfit I feel safe calling this the middle of the 1980s.
Love the William Marsh Rice photo bomb!
“Martel College…will house about 2,255 students.” Really?
Perhaps the author interpreted Gillis’ comment that the construction of Martel College will move the university toward its goal of housing no fewer than four-fifths of undergraduates to mean that four-fifths of all undergraduates will reside in Martel.
That was lot C closer to the Duncan and C1 by the cooling tower IIRC.
Didn’t Mr. Martel make a donation, late in Hackerman’s presidency, to improve the former digs of Continuing Studies in the building next to the “art barn”? I think the building was named in his honor. Perhaps the photo memorializes the donation?
Yes, Farrell is right about Continuing Studies.
I find it interesting how many different sets of tennis courts have appeared and disappeared on campus.
It was called Abercrombie Lot after the letter designations were done away with. Now it is called (what is left of it after Duncan/McMurtry) the North College Lot.
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