Tunnels, Pools, and Ghosts: Exploring Space at St. Catherine University

Derham Hall Building Overview

Derham Hall was the first building on campus, construction started in 1903 in preparation for the first students who arrived in January of 1905. In the beginning the building was the entire campus, providing every single function and duty of all the buildings today. The building originally did just so with a library, residence hall, classrooms, offices, chapel and more inside ­­55,000 square feet. Then Derham Hall was the entire campus for students. When walking in Derham hall today it is remarkable to think about all the functions that were performed for so many years in such a small building. Today Derham Hall is only part of the 110-acre campus; standing proudly on top of the hill and one of the many buildings surrounding the quad. The building today is an administrative headquarters of the university home to deans, administrative offices, admissions and the university president. In the past century Derham Hall has undergone many transformations to transform from a hodgepodge into the base of the university. The spaces in Derham Hall are peculiar because of the transition from the only building into a part of the campus.

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