Presented by Dennis Craig, Campus Historic Preservation Officer
Foellinger Auditorium, located at the South end of the Quad, was dedicated in 1907, and has served as class and performance space. As the largest lecture hall on campus, half of each weekday is devoted to instructional activities, and is the site of many student productions, lectures, and smaller commercial performances. The building was designed by Clarence H. Blackall, a noted theatre designer, in the Beaux-Arts style, and it is essentially a circle with a 120-foot diameter covering 17,000 square feet, with a large vestibule on the north side, and 396 lights in its copper dome. Originally dedicated to the composer Edward MacDowell, the building was rededicated on April 26, 1985, in honor of Helene Foellinger, whose gift to the university enabled the facility to undergo a major renovation.
Dennis Craig, three-degree Illinois alumnus who is also a Bronze Tablet honoree, left the private sector as an architect to become the UI’s Campus Historic Preservation Officer. When he’s not managing projects to ensure the UI is compliant with the National Historic Preservation Act, he’s responding to inquiries like the one from a granddaughter of a contractor on the Mumford House or a woman whose great uncle carved one of the statues at Memorial Stadium. And of course, he’s the go-to person whenever a newly unearthed time capsule is discovered. (He thinks there are at least twenty or thirty still buried around campus.)
**NOTE: For logistical reasons, this SAS will be limited to the first 25 confirmed registrants.**
If this event is full when you try to register, please email chp@illinois.edu to be placed on a waitlist.