After nearly 12 years of renovation, Villard Hall will soon be ready to have the University see it in all its former glory. Workers will start to remove the scaffolding soon, and students should notice changes when they return from spring break, said George Bleekman, a carpenter for Facilities Services.
Named after railroad magnate Henry Villard, the hall was built in 1886 and is the second-oldest building on campus.
Bleekman said the renovation work began in 1989 and was necessary because the building was beginning to deteriorate.
“The building was essentially failing,” he said.
Max Brown, a political science graduate teaching fellow, said he’s noticed the third-floor classrooms have been modernized, and he said the bathrooms now look like they were built in the 1990s instead of the 1890s.
Bleekman said students in the historic preservation program replaced shingles and deteriorated wood, replicated ornamental carvings and repaired broken metal detailing.
Philip Waugh, graduate student of historic preservation, said students worked on Villard to learn renovation techniques.
“The way it was set up was very conducive to learning,” he said. “This has been a tremendous tool. [Bleekman] made it a really painless process.”
Waugh said he hopes his experience on Villard Hall will enable him to return to his home in Minnesota and continue to work on renovating older buildings.
Theatre Development Director Joseph Gilg, whose office is on the second floor of Villard Hall, said he is impressed with the way the building looks. He said workers improved the building without creating too much noise.
“From time to time there were noise problems,” he said. “But it hasn’t been bad.”
Bleekman said the building is one of only 11 historical landmarks in the state of Oregon, and because of this, workers were required by law to maintain the historic integrity of the building.
Waugh said he never felt tempted to add his own touch or improve the existing structure of the building.
“I didn’t want to make my mark, because I don’t want to change anything,” he said.
Waugh said he hopes no one will notice many new changes to the building.
He said it is important to him to have “the ability to step back from the project and have people say they think it looks good.”
Brown said he’s glad the building received the renovation.
“As far as I’m concerned, it looks much better aesthetically,” he said. “I have also noticed the facade is much more clean.”
Gilg said because the building renovation work has been going on for more than 10 years, he has never seen Villard without scaffolding. But despite this, what he has seen is improved.
“Certainly, I think it looks much better,” he said.
Bleekman said while the process was long, it was never out of reach for the students to accomplish.
“There was definitely nothing we couldn’t handle,” he said. “It was just a real-time consuming deal.”