Saturday, July 22, 2006

 

A visit to my old college

I'll start this with a photo taken inside the Lincoln Heights Starbucks store that we visit while at my brother's house in Spokane. This is a large store and on these hot days it really feels good inside with their air conditioning. There are a lot of windows off to the right of this area, in the front of the store, that face south:
Starbucks 7-19-06

On Thursday we went back to Cheney (the town) to visit my old college, now known as Eastern Washington University. It has been around since 1882 in it's various forms, mostly related to training school teachers. Annie graduated from the western Washington equivalent on our side of the mountains in Bellingham. The school is much larger now, with more than three times the number of students that were there when I was from 1961 to 1963. It also has a lot of new buildings & some that were there with me are now gone.

Two of those that are gone were what we called the cardboard dorms. They were never intended to be permanent and the grass field around them became a sea of mud when it rained. The area where they were is now a beautiful lawn with trees, fountains, brick walkways & circles and ampitheaters. This photo was taken from one of those walkways with a fountain, a circle & a sign with the school name:
EWU 01

One of the earliest buildings that is still in use is Showalter Hall. It has a large lawn in front that is well shaded by trees & was a favorite place to go to study when I was there. I guess that newer central planting area is more centrally located as Showalter is at an edge of the campus but it is still as beautiful as it ever was. Here is a part of the lawn with the building in the background:
EWU 02

Here is the front door of the building in a closer view. It is pretty typical of buildings constructed in the early 1900s:
EWU 03

As I said this school has a background of training teachers. This little building is an orginal one-room school house that has been turned into a museum:
EWU 04

This view includes the same fountain that is in the first photo but it was taken looking in the opposite direction. The building in the background is the John F Kennedy Library, which has been built since I attended school there:
EWU 05

The central green space area is quite large, as shown in this photo of just a part of it:
EWU 06

When I was there the student union building was known as the SUB & had the bookstore located in one end of the building. The student union building is now known as the PUB. I don't think they sell beer or wine there, even though it is called a pub, but they do have at least two mocha outlets. Showalter Hall & probably other buildings have their own mocha outlets. This photo shows a part of the bookstore, that I think is about as large as the whole SUB used to be:
EWU 07

There are two of these buildings that are co-ed dorms. When I was there & we were out on the ROTC drill field, they were starting construction on the first of these, with pile drivers putting pilings down. My older son attended school here one year in 1993-94 & he lived in this dorm, called Pierce Hall. They are about a dozen stories tall & offer a nice view of the surrounding countryside:
EWU 08

My brother is planning to return to school here this fall to take some classes just for the fun of it. I live too far away to do that but it does sound like a good thing to do. I think I may take another class or two this fall at my local college.

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Comments:
Thanks for letting us walk down memory lane with you Dick , it must be strange to see all the rebuilding etc and stand where you did years ago , great pics by the way as always .Alot of good memories flooding back , enjoy!
Drive safe , Hugs for HUGGY :}
Greeneyes
 
Hi Dick -

Your photos always look so vibrant! The colors in the Lincoln Heights Starbucks store are just stunning - each variation comes through with its own beauty and texture, with the wall spotlighting noticeable, but not overpowering.

It takes a real photographic talent to bring out the subtle variations of colors on the floor tiles, while not washing out the artwork on the wall. A real skill in depth-of-field knowledge!! ;->

Oh, and the play of light on the arm of the chair in the foreground is a lovely eye catcher.


CU soon.


Virtual hugs,

Judie
 
Well alright Dick....

Enjoyed the tour my friend. I can not believe that Pierce Hall is a dormitory. Looks like a grain-elevator with windows. :)

Well, you would expect someone from Arkansas to say something like that.
 
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