The End of an Era

 As I was going out and about today, I passed by Jones Hall.  I saw that they were starting to tear it down, so I went on the other side to see if the same was happening to Goddard.

And yes it was.  Goddard Hall is the hall that I stayed for three years of my time at Eastern Michigan University.  At the time, it was the Honors Dorm.  I also spent some other time there as it was the computing center.

Goddard Hall was constructed in 1955.  It was the same design as Jones Hall, King and Goodison Halls.  The architect was R.S. Gerganoff of Ypsilanti, Michigan.  Goddard Hall was named after Mary A. Goddard who was a botany professor at Eastern Michigan (then Michigan State Normal College) from 1900 to 1939.  Most of the rooms in the buildings were suites with a central living area and sleeping areas on either side.  Some of the rooms were just bedrooms but they were a pretty decent size.  Jones and Goddard held a total of 1,200 students.  In 1964, the computing center was opened in the basement of Goddard.  In the 1980s, both Jones and Goddard were made the honors dorms.

Due to the declining number of students living on campus and other issues, Goddard was closed in 2005.  It was decided fairly recently that they would be torn down.  I imagine the cost to update and mitigate asbestos would be too much.  This will become a green space for now.

While I'm sad that they are tearing Goddard down, I understand that time marches on.