January 2025.
Evans Laboratory is an odd, disjointed amalgamation of a building. Each wing and addition is designed with a different appearance and manages to present as its own structure and not as part of a whole. It is made even more confusing by the attached Newman and Wolfrom Lab, which altered the original building. I’m almost tempted to say “good riddance,” but that would be a little rude. Evans Lab is located on north campus, bordered by 19th Avenue, MacQuigg Lab, and the new engineering expansion to the north; 18th Avenue and Stillman Hall to the south; College Road and Arps Garage to the east; and it is attached to Celeste Lab and Newman and Wolfrom Lab to the west.
Chemistry Quonsets History
Prior to the construction of Evans Lab, two metal Quonset huts sat on the north side of the site. They were built to store equipment and military surplus for the chemistry department’s usage, as part of the Veterans Educational Facilities program (which was part of the larger post-WWII GI bill). The two on the site of Evans Lab were built by the Roth-Schenker Corporation and completed on August 20, 1947. They were removed during construction of Evans Lab and its addition.
Evans Laboratory History
Evans Lab under construction, c. 1958-1960. (Knowlton Archives)
For whatever reason, John Herrick’s write-up only begins with the first addition, so all I can extrapolate from other entries of his and the Knowlton Archives is that construction on the original building definitively began in October 1958, and may have finished in 1960. It was probably designed by the same architects who did the additions--Benham, Richards, and Armstrong. Most other information is unknown to me.
Evans Lab’s original footprint.
The original building presents as a coherent work of architecture. It would seem that history has not been kind to Evans Lab, similar to Weigel Hall. The below picture shows the structure prior to alteration.
The completed Evans Lab, after 1960. (Knowlton Archives)
The concrete information I have begins with the first addition to Evans Lab. This addition was being planned as early as 1960, but the drawings were not completed/approved until 1965. It was designed by Benham, Richards, and Armstrong in the Mid-Century Modern style, with a concrete frame clad in brick. Construction began that June, by Robert Setterlin and Sons, and was completed by August 1967. A smaller, completely underground addition called the “Van de Graaff Addition” was designed by the same firm that same year and was completed in December 1965.
The footprint of Evans Lab after its first additions.
A rendering of the addition to Evans Lab. (Knowlton Archives)
In 1984, another addition was built on the west side to house air-conditioning equipment. It is of CMU bearing-wall construction faced in brick. With this addition, Evans Lab has 65,638 square feet of net assignable space.
Evans Lab’s current footprint.
The entrance to Evans Lab, undated. (Knowlton Archives)
It is not mentioned by a source, but presumably as part of the construction of Newman and Wolfrom Lab in 1994-1995, the original entrance to Evans Lab was demolished or incorporated into the new building. Additionally, the art installation on the east side, known as “This Artwork” by Mary Miss, was added in 2003. By this point, Evans Lab took on its current bizarre appearance.
William Lloyd Evans. (Ohio State Chemistry Department)
Evans Lab is named after William Lloyd Evans (1871-1954), a professor of chemistry at Ohio State. Evans received his master’s of science from Ohio State in 1896 and a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1905. He joined the faculty that year as an assistant professor, becoming a full professor in 911. After a brief stint of military service during World War I at Edgewood Arsenal, Evans was named chairman of the Department of Chemistry in 1928, succeeding William McPherson. He had the department shift its focus to graduate-level research and encouraged sponsorship from companies and the government.
Evans retired in 1941 after 13 years as chairman, after which he served as president of the American Chemical Society and continued to work on chemistry projects until his death in 1954.
Evans Lab will be demolished soon for a new building constructed in three phases, deemed “Evans Lab Replacement.” The process has apparently begun, as I found a document online seeking responses from architects and engineers to design the first stage of the replacement, which had a response deadline of November 5, 2024. An “anticipated schedule” section suggests that the first stage of the replacement will probably be completed by February 2028.
Photos
Since Evans Lab is largely empty and inaccessible, and considering that the building is an architecturally uninteresting brick box, I didn’t get very many photos for this one. Luckily, I have enough prose to make up for it. Here’s the building in its entirety:
See what I mean about each part presenting completely differently? You have a Miesian base with large expanses of glass and metal, a bare brick extrusion with bland square windows, and an addition that’s another story higher with those ugly little punched windows. I could design a better-looking building in my sleep--anyone could.
Here’s another look from the Arps garage:
Back on the ground, looking northwest:
I thought this moment was interesting:
A gorgeously lit shot of a brick box.
Here’s the area where Newman and Wolfrom Lab meets Evans Lab:
I was so confused about the purpose of this metal box for the longest time. Apparently, it’s a work of art, but I thought it was some science-related thing that people just vandalized.
It made for some cool photography, though:
The black boards are slate, so presumably all the artwork is done in chalk.
To enter Evans Lab, you have to go through the south door to Newman and Wolfrom Lab, and then through the doors labeled “Evans Lab.” (If OSU has to label everything to clarify the right way to go, your building sucks.) These are the stairs up to the building:
I also got a new phone recently, so my interior photos are going to be higher quality from here on out.
Evans Lab is perhaps the most unsettling campus building I’ve visited yet. It felt like being inside an abandoned building. Lights were out everywhere, hardly anyone was around, and there was a general air of age and neglect. The layout is rather confusing, which is exacerbated by various parts of the building being inaccessible. I started with the second floor, which I think has the only active classrooms:
Judging by the decor, this place has never been updated. All the classrooms were in use, but it still felt eerily empty. The above view looks west. The east hallway was closed off and had some warning sign to stay out, so I got this shot through the window:
It looks like the place has been mostly cleaned out. This hallway wasn’t always closed, though. I had a chapter meeting for my nerd fraternity since our usual meeting place was unavailable, and while searching for the bathrooms we ventured down this hallway. I distinctly remember the walls being torn open and the asbestos-sheathed plumbing exposed. This was long before I had ever considered starting this project, otherwise I would have gotten a picture. If I didn’t get lung cancer from the microplastics yet, I probably have it now. :)
The first floor’s east hallway was open, though, and it appears largely the same:
I think it used to have labs at one time, but it was mostly faculty offices, although some labs remained:
That shadow to the left of my reflection is freaky…I don’t think that’s a person, but if it is I didn’t notice them at all while taking the picture.
I couldn’t get to the third or fourth floors, which were probably equally empty, and I was focused on other things that day and forgot to visit the basement. Oh well. Let’s hope Evans Lab’s replacement is better-looking, even though it’ll be a glass box instead.
Sources:
https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/24059
https://knowltondl.osu.edu/Browse/objects/facet/collection_facet/id/18
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40220316
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/servicemens-readjustment-act
https://chemistry.osu.edu/events/william-lloyd-evans-lecture-0
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