Tunnels, Pools, and Ghosts: Exploring Space at St. Catherine University Main Menu Introduction Brief History of St. Kate's Timeline of Buildings and Presidents Explore buildings on campus in the order they were built Derham Hall Building Overview from the only building to a base for the University Whitby Hall: Building Overview it only took 98 years for students to move out Chapel place of prayer and celebration Mendel Hall Basements and the Cold War Coeur de Catherine, St. Joseph's Hall and the Library how two spaces became one The Future Legend or History? unpacking the truth behind the stories Community Contribution Thank You Sources and Further Research Veronika Paprocka

Derham Hall Slides

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The back of Derham Hall features large rusted metal tubes traveling up the sides of the building and connecting to the interior. These tubes used to house slides that would help evacuate the building in the event of a fire. Back in the day, the early 1900s, there was a great fear of fire. The early bulletin of the college boasted that Derham Hall was “fireproof” and these slides were part of the fire plan. In the event of a fire people would evacuate the building by sliding down these tubes. Decades later these slides would have a more fun purpose, as slide. These slides were used as a fun afternoon event, its clearly obvious that slides are far more fun than stairs any day. Fire Safety has never been this fun!Today the slides are no longer safe or fun but a safety hazard. They’re still located in some offices but the slides are no longer usable. The tubes have been welded shut at the bottom and are unusable. These odd slides are a reminder of the past and the concerns of the past. When the building was built there was a fear of city wide fires. This fear encouraged builders and architects to design buildings that could help resist and prevent fire, it’s debatable if Derham was actually fireproof but the thought is what counts here. These slides connect the building to a different world where people were scared of fire and took comfort in “fireproof buildings.”

As the needs required of Derham Hall changed the building changed, some functions left behind permanent scars while others left without a trace. Today the slides are a very prominent reminder to the past and what the past looked like in Derham Hall; they have remained almost unchanged only getting more rusted with time. On the other hand the chapel has moved out of the building without much of a trace, the room was converted into an office and conference room. The inhabitant of the office knows what the space was beforehand but unless you knew you would never know. Some spaces have been replaced, like the chapel and library, and so have lost their past connections. Often on campus the history of a space is lost as it is replaced with a newer better space.

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  1. Derham Hall Building Overview Veronika Paprocka

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