About 40 people spent two hours learning about the history of this campus during a walking tour led by David Mrizek, vice president of college services, as part of Employee Development Day Sept. 29.
The tour began at Fletcher Administration Center with a description of the beginning of this college. Much of the land was purchased or donated from homeowners in the area over time, Mrizek said.
In the late 1980s, a bond issue was passed that changed the look of the campus. West Dewey Place was closed to traffic from Belknap Place to San Pedro Avenue.
Heading south, the tour stopped to admire the solidity of Moody Learning Center, which Mrizek described as a veritable bomb shelter. Moody owes its stoutness to numerous large columns and rebar-enforced concrete that was meant to withstand the weight of books.
Next stop on the tour was Nail Technical Center, where 23,000 students were registered in three days in the 1970s, he said.
Heading north, the group entered McCreless Hall, which served as the administration office and library when it was erected in 1950. The group then zigzagged its way west, where the bridge over Dewey allowed a view of San Pedro Springs Park and a vista of the west end of campus. It is here that a fault along the edge of the Edwards Plateau can be plainly seen and accounts for the fact that McAllister Fine Arts Center is at a higher elevation than the rest of the campus, he said.
Below the bridge, near the intersection of Dewey and San Pedro, are doors that once allowed access into some of the caves that constitute the Edwards Aquifer.
Other sites on the tour included Scobee Planetarium, the garden area between Gonzales Hall and Loftin Student Center, McCreless and McAllister Fine Arts Center, the Bennett House, Koehler Cultural Center and Longwith Radio, Television and Film Building.
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