Main Building (University of Texas at Austin)

The Main Building (known colloquially as The Tower) is a structure at the center of the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Main Building's 307-foot (94 m) tower has 28 floors and is one of the most recognizable symbols of the University, as well as the city..

History

1882–1934

The old Victorian-Gothic Main Building served as the central point of the campus' forty-acre site, and was used for nearly all purposes beginning in 1882. However, by the 1930s, discussions arose about the need for new library space, and the Main Building was razed in 1934 over the objections of many students and faculty. All that remains of the Old Main Building are its old carillon bells (called the "Burleson Bells" The University of Texas. Accessed March 29, 2006.), which are now exhibited as part of a permanent display outside the university's Bass Concert Hall. The modern-day tower and Main Building were constructed in its place.

1935–present

Originally, the University planned to use the tower as a library space, using a dumbwaiter system to carry books from the upper floors to the students requesting them on the second floor. Library employees were stationed every other floor and students on the ground floor filled out paper book request slips, which were sent upstairs by pneumatic tube, similar to bank tellers. The books were sent down to the students using an 18-story dumbwaiter....
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