After 59 years, Marshall Annex demolished
Marshall Annex, the home of many Art Department studios in recent years, was demolished Sept. 6 to make room for the new Integrated Sciences Building.
The 10,275 square-foot building, originally was trucked to campus in pieces in 1947 from Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee. The building was reassembled and used as additional research space for Marshall Hall, a bacteriology lab built in 1915. Marshall Hall was demolished in 1996 because it was out-of-date for scientific research.
The annex, however, remained, and was used as studio space for sculpture and metal-working.
Because of its age and the history of a variety of uses here and at Westover, the destruction of Marshall Annex presented some challenges. Special care is being taken for the handling and disposal of asbestos, lead paint and other hazardous material that may be present in the structure. Once the building debris is removed, the area will be part of the grounds around the new Integrated Science Building and may in the future be the site of expansion of that structure.
After World War II, enrollment on campus quickly expanded and officials needed to find inexpensive extra space. A number of so-called “annex” buildings went up at the time—pre-fabricated, war surplus buildings that were never meant to be permanent. Marshall Annex has survived many rounds of changes on campus and has its admirers. Art students, its latest occupants, expressed great affection for the building, in part, perhaps, because it was old and funky.
To compensate for the loss of the art studios, two modular buildings have been installed near the Agricultural Engineering Building.
September 7, 2006.
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