McDonald Hall

 (1929 - present)

McDonald Hall was constructed in 1929. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

On September 18, 1944 this men's residence hall was officially named in honor of A. F. McDonald and his wife, Cornelia McDonald. A.F. McDonald was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1906 to 1924 and served as a vice-president from 1914 to 1916.

Building Name

From the beginning this building (then called "Boys' Dormitory") was sometimes referred to as McDonald Hall, the name of one of the residence halls on the old campus.

It was not until February 21, 1944 that the Board of Trustees officially named the building McDonald Hall.  Later, the name was engraved above the front door and a dedication plaque placed by the front door.  The dedication ceremony was September 18, 1944 during a special Chapel program.

Design and Construction

The architects for this building were Nichol & Campbell.  The contract was awarded in early November to Balfanz Construction Co.  This building was started after Zellner Hall was substantially completed.  The concrete for the second floor was poured in early March 1929.  The building wasn't completed until mid August 1929 and cost $106,657.

While the outside walls look the same today as they did in 1929, the original double-hung white wood framed windows were replaced in 1979 when the interior was renovated.  The rooms and bathroom walls are all still in their original locations; the closets have been removed.

Initially, the hallway and bathroom floors were concrete while the room floors and parlors had wooden floors.  The interior woodwork was stained walnut including the doors, wall base and shoe, chair rail and picture molding.  The walls and ceiling were plastered and painted a light creme and light brown.

Each room was furnished with two twin beds, a dresser, a table and two chairs.  The furnishings were all walnut or painted brown in color.  For heat, each room had an open flame gas heater.  Each room also had a lavatory sink with hot and cold running water.

However, with only one 32-gallon hot water heater for the entire building, one wonders how much hot water was available, especially for those on the third floor on the opposite side of the building from the heater. 

As can be seen from the floor plans, there were no hallway doors on the first floor, and the rooms were actually across from the front door.  According to the 1929-30 student handbook, visitation by members of the opposite sex in the parlor was only allowed for one hour a day.

Floor Plans

The building housed the men's residence hall:

• First Floor
• Parlor
• Director's suite
• 25 Rooms
• Two bathrooms
• Janitor's closet
• Trunk room
   
• Second Floor
• 29 Rooms
• Two bathrooms
• Janitor's Closet
• Two trunk rooms
   
• Third Floor
• 29 Rooms
• Two bathrooms
• Janitor's closet
• Two trunk rooms

McDonald Hall (center), Sewell Auditorium (left) and theA. C. C. Book Store (right) near completion in this 1929 photo, courtesy of ACU Creative Services.

J. W. Treat lived in this residence hall room in 1933-34. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

Batsel Barrett Baxter lived in this room, 1936-37. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

Students named Price and LaVerne lived in this room in 1936-37. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

First Floor Plan
8½" x 11" PDf (690 KB)

Third Floor Plan
8½" x 11" PDf (724 KB)

  
These floor plans are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To view them, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  These floor plans were created using photographs, physical examination of the building and the few original architectural drawings that survived.  If you can help improve them, visit the How You Can Help page.

1930
Two o'clock Friday morning, March 28, the hot water heater burst.  Someone had tied a shovel to the automatic cut-off, and the boiler stayed in operation until it got too hot.  As the water had to be shut off to both residence halls, all students went to class Friday with "unwashed faces" according to an article in The Optimist.

A new hot water heater was installed Saturday and by late Sunday evening the hall had hot water again.  The new heater was larger than the old one; it held 50 gallons!

At some point after the building was finished, Room 112 was remodeled into the a residence hall director's room (then called the matron's room).  The closets and hallway door were removed and replaced by a bathroom.  A door was put in the wall between this room and the parlor.

1931
The room (number 110) next to the director's room was converted into a hospital room for men who were ill.  If they needed anything they could tap on the common wall and the director would check on them.

1937
Prior to 1937, when the superintendent left, the director moved into his suite.  The director's room became a guest room and parlor, an office.  Rooms 115 and 117 were turned into the new parlor.

In March the guest room and office were turned into a recreation room.

In October, two fire escapes were installed on the north side of the building.

1938
During the summer, partitions were put up completely across the hallways on the second and third floors.  It was apparently to separate the athletes from the rest of the residents.