Zellner Hall

 (1929 - present)

Zellner Hall is shown circa 1940 in this photo courtesy of ACU Creative Services.

On September 18, 1944 this building was officially named in memory of M. Zellner and his wife, Emma Edwards Zellner. M. Zellner was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1908 to 1916 and served as the third president of the board from 1911 to 1916.

Building Name

From the beginning this building (then called "Girls' Dormitory") was sometimes unofficially referred to as the Zellner 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 Zellner Hall.  Later, the Zellner name was engraved above the front door and a dedication plaque (now missing) 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 for construction was awarded in early November 1928 to Balfanz Construction Co.  On January 7, 1929 the concrete for the first floor was poured.  The concrete work was finished and the brick work was begun on March 5, 1929.  The building was finished by July 25, 1929.  It was erected at a cost of $95,997.

The exterior is much the same today as it was in 1929.  The original double-hung white wood framed windows were replaced in 1979 when the interior was renovated.  While many of the residence hall rooms and even closets remain as built in the renovated interior, some have been combined into larger offices or conference rooms.  The bathrooms were remodeled into two restrooms or removed.

When built, the hallway and bathroom floors were concrete, while the rooms and parlors had wood floors.  The interior woodwork was stained walnut including the doors, wall base and shoe, chair rail and picture molding.  The walls and ceilings were plastered and painted a light creme and light brown.

Each room was furnished with two twin beds or one double bed, a dresser, a table and two chairs.  The furnishings were all walnut or 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.

Floor Plans

This building housed:

• First Floor
• 18 rooms
•  6 parlors
• 2 sun porches
• 2 bathrooms
• Director's room
• Office
• Janitor
• Trunk room
   
• Second Floor
• 27 rooms
• 2 sun porches
• 2 bathrooms
• Director's room
• Janitor
• Trunk room
   
• Third Floor
• 27 rooms
• 2 sun porches
• 2 bathrooms
• Director's room
• Janitor
• Trunk room

Zellner Hall nears completion in this 1929 photo. The grass, sidewalks and trees were painted on the original photograph. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

The living room or parlor was a gather place for students. Photo courtesy of ACU Creative Services

The parlor or living room is shown circa 1932 in this photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

This photo shows the back side of Zellner, circa 1935. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

The residence hall room was occupied in 1936-37. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

This was the residence hall room of Louise and Dorothy in 1936-37. Photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear.

First Floor Plan
8½" x 11" PDF (688 KB)

Second Floor Plan
8½" x 11" PDF (725 KB)

Third Floor Plan
8½" x 11" PDF (748 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 still exist.  If you can help improve them, visit the How You Can Help page.

1937

In October, two fire escapes were installed on the south side of the building at the sun porches.