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During the last decade of the nineteenth century many
campuses erected society halls or student unions funded
by gifts from alumni or friends of the universities.
George Miller, a local architect, drew up plans for
a brick and stone edifice complete with Turkish mosque
turrets and a steeply pitched slate roof. The estimated
cost was $15,000. Pledges were given and money was deposited
in W. H. Schuremann’s bank in Normal. However, a national
run on all banks in 1893 forced the doors to close resulting
in the townspeople and the deposit for the student union
to be lost. It would be 62 years before construction
would begin for a student union at Illinois State University.
Opened in 1956, this building was originally the Student
Union. It included a ballroom; the Daily Vidette, the
student newspaper; recreation lounges; private dining
rooms; cafeterias; and a snack bar named "The Cage".
A modest budget and a Modernist aesthetic approach to
design made impossible a return to the Georgian architecture
of the pre-war years at Illinois State University. So
the architect looked for a method of design which would
produce an architectural character consistent with the
classical ennui of the campus, but yet modified enough
from the old buildings that it would not look out of
place. The new building was more in keeping with the
future vision of University life and philosophy of the
second century of the University. By the end of World
War II with increased enrollments of GIs, a new student
center became imperative. 
Following Illinois State legislation, a foundation was
set up at all universities allowing the University to
accept gifts for the construction of the new Student
union. An additional student fee was approved by the
student body to aid in the funding of construction of
the new structure.
The modern structure of brick and plate glass with its
lounges, dining halls, cafeteria, snack bar, game and
conference rooms, and alumni headquarters differed greatly
from the Society Hall, the turreted monstrosity projected
by the Wrightonian and Philadelphian literary societies
of the 1890s.
With the erection of a new student union, the Bone Student
Center, at the north end of campus in August 1973, the
former student union was designated as the Media Services
Building and finally Old Union. Media Services,
Applied Computer Science, and WGLT are all currently
housed in Old Union.
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