Question for ye olde tyme folks....

[spiral97]

oh great.. it was supposedly haunted?  glad I didn't know that BEFORE I wandered around down there!

Course, I was also quite surprised at how easily I got onto the roof there too. no locked doors, nothing.  and this was only a year or two after someone took a final leap off the service building.

[WashDCWarrior]

not haggarty.. the engineering annex.... that's the building on the west side of 17th street between wisconsin and wells - across from the parking structure and attached to humphrey hall.

That annex is the creepiest building on campus.  For senior design, I spent some time in the machine shop there.  It's just so big and empty it reminded me of the boiler room in Nightmare on Elm Street.  I swear if something happened nobody would find you for a month.

[🏀]

www.theshadowlands.net has a great archive of haunted places, and it was updated last month, but it seems be down at the moment.

http://www.prairieghosts.com/marquettewi.html

That article has some of the Marquette hauntings I've heard of.

That engineering annex is also now known as the Academic Support Facility. Has graduate student offices, a daycare, and a couple research rooms.

[MeghanMU]

I had some creepy experiences working maintenance at MU....especially the day I spent wandering around Humphrey on my own changing out emergency exit batteries and cleaning rooms in the basement and sub basement.   The sub basement in east hall was pretty creepy too!

[mu_hilltopper]

Not that it was haunted, nor creepy, but my favorite semi-secret place was the top floor of West Hall.  It was a bar, and a drained pool.  I believe RAs treated it as their rec room.  One year, they punk'd a female RA and moved her entire room up there, where she lived for a while.  Had great views of the Valley and downtown.

[DoubleMU0609]

I wonder if any current students even know that a dorm existed on 26th(?) and Wisconsin?  The only reason I know is a class on Urban Redevelopment where we did a case study on 27th Street. 

Does anyone on the board have stories from things that no longer exist? (West Hall, frat houses on Highland?)

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

I wonder if any current students even know that a dorm existed on 26th(?) and Wisconsin?  The only reason I know is a class on Urban Redevelopment where we did a case study on 27th Street. 

I've heard that.  Does the buildling still exist that used to service as a dorm?  Why did MU go that far West from campus, lack of existing dorm space for a time?

What kind of student would agree to have to walk that far to class?

[bma725]

I wonder if any current students even know that a dorm existed on 26th(?) and Wisconsin?  The only reason I know is a class on Urban Redevelopment where we did a case study on 27th Street. 

I've heard that.  Does the buildling still exist that used to service as a dorm?  Why did MU go that far West from campus, lack of existing dorm space for a time?

The building was torn down, 2 or so years ago.  They went because there wasn't space available for the price they wanted to pay.  What is now Straz Tower was still the downtown YMCA and MU only leased space there, Abbotsford was still apartments(and not necessarily for students), Campus Town and the other apartment buildings either didn't exist or weren't MU owned until later. 

[rocky_warrior]

What kind of student would agree to have to walk that far to class?

Marquette ran a shuttle to campus.

[augoman]

I think that was originally a hilton hotel...?  on another note, anyone else remember the underpass on Wisconsin ave from corner of Johnson to 1212 bldg?

[spiral97]

What is now Straz Tower was still the downtown YMCA and MU only leased space there

East is now Straz Tower?!  When did that happen? 

[Tommy Brice for Coach]

I am one of those current students that went:

"What? West Hall?"

[DoubleMU0609]

What is now Straz Tower was still the downtown YMCA and MU only leased space there

East is now Straz Tower?!  When did that happen? 

I believe East became Straz my soph. year (2003-2004).

[mu_hilltopper]

I lived at West for a couple years.  It was a very nice dorm, really .. Had it been located 12 blocks closer, it would have been one of the top dorms .. it was a hotel at one time .. had a (empty) pool on the roof, nice ball room, nice cafe, lobby.  Rooms were a decent size .. I lived in a quad, which was enormous .. I can't remember the dimensions .. about 18' wide by 35', with 1.5 baths and a bar/kitchen area.  Enough room for 4 desks, 4 chests, 3 closets, 4 beds .. with enough room to ride a bike around in a circle.

The downside was the "commute" .. which really wasn't bad.  In the morning, a bus ran every 10 mintues, and dropped you at one of 4 places on Wisc. Ave.  After that, it was every 20 minutes.  So all you really did was check your watch and plan your departures.

Other big pluses was a McDonalds a block away .. and of course, prostitute corner, where you could watch pervs pick up dates, or, on occasion, police stings.  Great entertainment.

[Tommy Brice for Coach]

and of course, prostitute corner, where you could watch pervs pick up dates, or, on occasion, police stings.  Great entertainment.

Unfortunately, I think this is one of the reasons people choose not to go to MU... the crime on the West Edge of campus of housing scares em away.

[🏀]

There was a tunnel at the 1212 building? Damn that would be nice.

[Pago Warrior]

West Hall was indeed, a great place to live.  Although, a few other bonuses of living there that Hilltopper missed in his post were:
* The Corner store (aka Ghetto Grocery) right next door on 27th that accepted a library card as sufficient ID to buy beer
* GOLDEN CHICKEN right across the street - place to go for real fried chix, just wear your kevlar
* VFW Drink Specials in the basement
* Access to the grade school field across the street which was the premium venue for tackle football in the snow.
* Mere blocks away from J. Dhamer's actual home.

I almost shed a tear driving by there this past Saturday looking at what is now an empty lot.

[mu_hilltopper]

Ghetoo Grocery?  Where was that?  You must be talking about Prosto Mart.

Let's not forget Arthur Treachers' Fish and Chips around the corner, too.

[4everwarriors]

you're talking about may be just an exaggeration. There were, however, at least 2 tunnels with steps taking you down, in order to cross Wisconsin Ave. at about 13th and maybe 14th streets. Probably built as a safe means to cross the Ave. They probably were closed up about 1970.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

They tore down West Hall my junior year (03-04).  The plan was at the time to put a Pick 'n' Save and some other retail on that space, but the deal fell through.  MU very much wanted a grocery store for this spot from what I have heard.  Latest plan I heard was for a mixed-use condo and townhouse development for that lot.

It seems, though, that the west end of campus, despite the crime problems, is starting to redevelop.  They redid the building at 20th and Wisconsin into high-end student housing known as 2040 Lofts.  New apartments were built at 19th and Kilbourn, and the old Sinai at 21st and Kilbourn got redeveloped into loft apartments.  Also, the Milwaukee Center for Independence (rehab facility) relocated to a new building on 20th and Wells and DPS/MPD opened a new substation on 22nd and Kilbourn.  There are also rumors of another push for a grocery store in this area too.  Still, they need to figure out a way to clean up this crime problem that seems to be overwhelming the west end of campus. 

[spiral97]

There are also rumors of another push for a grocery store in this area too.

Would be nice.. i think I remember having to drive quite a bit to get to sentry or something way our past where bluemound rd joins wisconsin ave.. there was a sentry or something in the other direction too by the lake I think.. looked online and couldn't find either.. maybe they shut down?

[StillAWarrior]

What kind of student would agree to have to walk that far to class?

This kind.  I lived at West my sophomore year.  It was definitely my favorite dorm.  I had a corner room, right on the corner of 26th/Wisc (6th floor) -- a huge double with a bathroom (although not nearly as big as the ridiculous quads on the lower floors that mu-hilltopper lived in).  The "commute" wasn't too bad at all.  Just required a little planning.  Of the three dorms that I lived in, West was, by far, the best "community."  People just got along really well, and we had a lot of fun.  Probably because we were a little more isolated from the rest of the campus.  I can understand why MU jettisoned West, but it made me sad when I heard about it.

[Sir Lawrence]

[/quote]

Would be nice.. i think I remember having to drive quite a bit to get to sentry or something way our past where bluemound rd joins wisconsin ave.. there was a sentry or something in the other direction too by the lake I think.. looked online and couldn't find either.. maybe they shut down?
[/quote]

The one on Bluemound is now a Midas Muffler Shop.  The one on Van Buren,close to the lake, is still there, only now it's a "Metro Market"--actually a very nice grocery store. 

[77fan88warrior]

West was a lot of fun for anyone who lived there. You can never underestimate the value in having a liquor store so close to your residence. The bus was actually quicker than walking for a lot of  other people. The drunk bus( mu vans) provided many good stories at breakfast. Everything was touched on except the pool hall on the other side of the corner store. O yeah, there seemed to be a lot of sailors who frequented the area when on leave. I wonder why?

[Avenue Commons]

Back in 1993, MU was closed due to -50 degrees (with temps at -20).

Damn knocked out OD's boiler...had to bundle up in sweaters and two comforters. Could see our breath in the room. And MU banned the use of space heaters (which were used anyways).

It was the first day back after Christmas Break, so technically it was 1994. The funny thing was that the next day was even COLDER, but Marquette was open that day because it was the big to-do for the opening of Schroeder Hall and the administration wanted the campus open. That was the rumor, anyways. If I'm not mistaken I think the heat did go out at McCormick. I remember having a blanket over my window it was so cold. That was an unbelievably brutal winter only to be followed the next year by the heat wave in the summer of 1995.