Lincoln Hall Project
The Evolving Quad
A Bold and Controversial Beginning
Had just a couple votes on the Board of Trustees been cast differently in 1869, the Quad as we know it might not even exist today. That year the board chose the site for a pivotal new building—the since-razed University Hall, at the site of the Illini Union—which dictated how the University expanded.
Some preferred the land north of Springfield Avenue, or in the space now taken up by the South Farms. By a narrow vote, the current location of the Illini Union was selected.
The site was criticized for years as its location south of Green Street required the relocation of experimental farms and gardens and stood separated from the rest of the University north of Green. The location, however, created the potential for an iconic space, even though the board didn’t know it. A rapid increase in enrollment at the University in the 1890s brought on a need for more buildings—buildings that would form the beginnings of the Quad.
In 1891, the Natural History Building was the first to be added. By 1917, most of the buildings that now shape the Quad had been built.