Old Gilchrist Hall : A Memory Etched in Flame
Old Gilchrist Hall was constructed between 1882 and 1883 and was the second building on campus, and the first designed for the purpose of higher education. Home to a six classrooms, laboratories, student dorms, music rooms, library, model classroom, and a chapel, the Normal School (UNI) could host 400 students. After 89 years of service and many renovations, Old Gilchrist Hall was destroyed in 1972 when an electrical short started a fire that destroyed much of the building. This exhibit, located in the new Gilchrist Hall by the Business Office, stands as a memorial to one of the first buildings on campus that help strengthen the importance of the Normal School (UNI) to Iowa.