Repairs underway on outside of Old Main

Watch workers atop Old Main on our webcam.

After a couple of weeks putting up the tall scaffolding that surrounds Old Main, workers began exterior renovations in early July.

Both the exterior and interior of the historic building will get a facelift over the next two years.

Phase I of the project, now underway, includes repairing the dome and stone, replacing the roof, tuckpointing and replacing windows.

Phase II projects include modernizing classrooms, adding computer kiosks, creating a two-floor forum space and updating faculty offices and seminar rooms. (For plans and details, see Preserve Old Main.)

The building was dedicated in June 1889. The dome was finished in 1893. Although officially known as Memorial Hall at the time, the building generally was called the "New College Building" at first. In the 1920s it became the "Main College Building." It is only in the 1935-1936 catalog that it is officially called "Old Main" for the first time.

Links:

• The college's Office of Advancement is raising funds for the $13 million project: see www.augustana.edu/preserveoldmain.
• For a history and photos of the building, see the Augustana sesquicentennial website.
• A photo gallery of Old Main is available and images may be downloaded.
• Old Main's entry in the National Register of Historic Places.

Augustana Photo Bureau/Marla Alvarado-Neuerburg	Old Main in an engraving, circa 1910.