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Architect: C. Herrick Hammond, FAIA, State Architect,
Springfield, Illinois
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 The
first campus building to be constructed following WWII
was the Administration Building, begun in 1948 and dedicated
on October 22, 1950. In 1959 it was renamed Hovey Hall,
after Charles Hovey, the first President of Illinois
State Normal University.
Hovey headed the school from the start of classes in
Major’s Hall in downtown Bloomington in the fall of
1857, until 1862 when he left the University to serve
as a colonel in the Civil War. He was promoted to the
rank of brigadier general. Hovey died on November 17,
1897, at his home in Washington, D.C., and was buried
with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.
Hovey Hall’s design reflected a transition from the
neo-Federalist style of the pre-war period to the modern
functionalism of postwar neo-classical architecture.
This building also appeared more modern because it did
not use classical elements such as a gabled roof or
tall chimneys. Instead its exterior design was largely
functional, reflecting a concept that interior space
be efficient  without
concern for aesthetic impressions. Hovey Hall was also
equipped with air-conditioning, a very modern feature.
The building clearly shows traces of the neo-Federal
style: segmented doorway, keystone lintels, and red-bricked
façade.
Construction began on Hovey Hall Annex in the
spring of 1967 and was completed in 1968. The new addition
was of the International style with a blending of glass
and concrete. The pillars of the new entrance facing
School Street were reminiscent of the classical elements
found on existing buildings from earlier times, thus
blending the old with the new architecturally.
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