I’ve written about this building a couple of times before but mostly to bemoan the lack of information about it. We do know that it was built in a big hurry in the spring and summer of 1941 and designed by William Ward Watkin in a style described as “modernistic.”
Hidden behind the power plant, it was rarely photographed but here’s the outside, which I agree you’d have to call modernistic:
So imagine my surprise when I came across photos of the inside of the building that show it to be not just traditional but absolutely cozy. This first one was taken in the fall of 1941, just after it opened–note the wood paneling:
The second one, taken in 1943 and showing the Rice Naval ROTC staff, is even more surprising. It almost looks like faux colonial. Very unexpected.
Bonus: We had a firetruck today!
What was the occasion for the firetruck?
I think a fire alarm went off in Sewall. Didn’t seem to be anything serious.
Yes, there was a false fire alarm in Sewall. Something having to do with a pressure irregularity in the city water making the fire alarm system think the sprinklers were going off, or something.
Wow. Very nice, very Streamline Moderne. That interior looks like pecky cypress to me, not especially Colonial but more Southwestern. Navy installations often have extremely traditional interiors. Conservative lot, those Navy officers. Also, you get a chance to see Service Dress White, a double-breasted coat for the chiefs and the choker whites for the LCDR. Khaki as an everyday uniform, especially on shore, was still a few years off.
When did we lose that building?
Good question. Let me see if I can find a specific answer . . .
Demolished in 1973 per Stephen Fox (General Plan of the William Marsh Rice Institute …)
I can’t believe the second interior photo (with a fireplace, no less!) was taken inside the “modern” NROTC building. Are you certain of the location, Melissa?