Home Economics Building

Home Economics Building, 1924

Throughout its history, the building at 1300 Linden Drive now occupied by the School of Human Ecology has been chronically overcrowded. Constructed in 1914, it was occupied both by the Extension Department, which was housed in the main wing, and the Home Economics Department, which received only the east wing. The Home Economics Department quickly outgrew its space. Meanwhile, the promised construction of a new building for Extension, which would have given the Home Economics Department the main wing, took almost fifty years to accomplish.

Home Economics Building after the construction of the west wing

By the 1940s, the need for space had become acute—in 1941 there were 675 students crowded into the classrooms and laboratories in the east wing that had been built for 250 students. Finally during the building boom that followed the Second World War, the Regents approved the construction of a west wing. Space remained at a premium, however, until 1962, when Extension finally vacated the central portion of the building.

Overcrowding has once again become a problem, and plans are now being developed to provide expanded facilities for the School.