User:Tbergquist/Martha Goodrich Administration Building

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The Martha Goodrich Administration building is the oldest existing building on the campus of Northwest Christian University (NCU) in Eugene, Oregon. It is located on the southeast corner of E. 11th Avenue and Alder Street and is considered a Eugene landmark, having been built in 1908.

At that time NCU was known as Eugene Bible University (EBU). Eugene Claremont Sanderson, the founder of Eugene Divinity School (EDS) in 1895, the predecessor to EBU, was also president from 1895 to 1930. As the school grew, there was a need for additional buildings. A campaign for building funds was begun in July 1907 by Sanderson. Architect T. L. Harden was chosen to prepare plans for the building while the stonemason was F. B. Hare.

Martha Goodrich Administration Building, oldest building on campus of Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Oregon

The building is located in the Eugene West University Neighborhood which also includes the University of Oregon and the PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District. It is listed in the Oregon Cultural Resources Inventory as well as the Oregon Historic Sites Database.[1][2] While the building is considered eligible and significant for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, the Administration at NCU has decided not to do so due to the costs associated with listing that would be prohibitive for a small liberal arts institution of higher education.

Construction[edit]

The outer walls and foundation are constructed out of volcanic stone. This came from a quarry on the property of the Colwell family near Ashland in Southern Oregon. A spur railroad line was built by the Phoenix (Oregon) Stone Company from the Southern Pacific Railroad line to the quarry. Fourteen carloads of stone were shipped between September 1907 and April 1908. The stone proved to be very hard to quarry and the company lost money on it. As a result the second and third stories of the building are made of a softer and more easily quarried stone and distinctly darker in color. A slate roof was the final step and was done by the Hare Construction Company of Concord, California. The total cost was just over $35,000.[3]

The building was dedicated on October 15, 1908. It initially housed the Bushnell Library, the Cowles Memorial Chapel, the Sanderson Recitation Room, and other services. The Louis H. Turner Museum, which today is located in the Kellenberger Library building, was once housed in three rooms on the third floor of the Administration building.[4] Today, the first and second floors hold several administrative offices including the Office of the President, the Financial Affairs office, and the Student Life offices. The second and third floors contain a number of classrooms.

Architecture[edit]

The building is constructed in the Italian Renaissance style. There is no basement. The outside is composed to two types of volcanic stone from southern Oregon. The windows and doors are wood sash. The hip roof has a dormer window facing the front of the building. The detailed stone work on the front façade of the building is rare in Eugene. Ivy once covered the building but has been removed to prevent damage.

Martha Goodrich[edit]

For many years it was known simply as the Administration Building. In November 1998 it was dedicated to Martha Hendricks Goodrich.[5] Her MA thesis from the University of Oregon in 1949 was titled History of Northwest Christian College.[6] She had been a life-long member of First Christian Church in Eugene and a long-time friend of Northwest Christian College (NCC), which became NCU in 2008. Her grandfather, Thomas G. Hendricks, Mayor of Eugene from 1881 to 1883 and President of the First National Bank of Eugene, was present at the meeting called to discuss establishing EDS in May 1895. Her mother was a traveling companion to Eugene Sanderson’s wife. The Hendricks family is a well-known Eugene family and Hendricks Park, the first park established in Eugene, is named for them.

Martha Goodrich was born in 1912. She never married. When she died in April 1996, her estate gave a $1 million gift to NCC. A large oil painting of her is located in the foyer of the building. She is buried in the Eugene Masonic Cemetery.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Resource ID 56523. Oregon Historic Sites Database. Salem, OR: State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/index.cfm?do=v.dsp_siteSummary&resultDisplay=56523
  2. ^ National Register of Historic Places Multiple Properties Documentation Form - Eugene West University Neighborhood - http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/64500505.pdf
  3. ^ Griffeth, Ross J. Crusaders for Christ. Eugene, OR: Shelton-Turnbull, Inc., 1971.
  4. ^ The Louis H. Turner Museum of the Eugene Bible University. World Evangel, January 13, 1927, Vol. XIX, No. 2.
  5. ^ Administration Building Named for Martha Goodrich. The Bulletin Northwest Christian College, Winter 1999, Vol. VIII, No. 1, p 1.
  6. ^ Goodrich, Martha H. History of Northwest Christian College. Eugene, OR: unpublished MA thesis, University of Oregon, 1949.
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