herr2ck: March 2026

March 2026.

Bricker Hall was the original home of the university president’s office and the Faculty Club. I think the moving of both the president’s office and residence off campus reflects its changing of priorities--from what is best for the students to what is best for the people/corporations supporting the university (most blatantly, someone whose last name begins with W and ends with -exner). The sentiment of current students on our recently deposed president, Ted Carter, is that he seemed to be a cold and unfeeling plutocrat who doesn’t really care about what the students want. I’ll spare the rant, but a lot of people are upset about how his administration has handled the Palestine protests, myself included. I’m surprised they didn’t bring out the riot truck:

Seriously, in what world does campus police need an MRAP? (The Sundial)

This is also going to be a very nostalgic one. I wrote most of the body text of this article a year and a half ago, but as Bricker Hall just reopened after spring break ended, I went there pretty much at my earliest convenience to get my photos in. I spent a lot of time reflecting on my time at Ohio State (since I’m graduating soon) and how my blog’s scope and quality have changed over the years. I do plan on getting Campbell Hall and BMEC, but those have yet to reopen, and I am unsure if they will before I graduate in May.

I digress. Bricker Hall is located on the north side of the Oval, bordered by Annie and John Glenn Avenue and the green space that used to be Brown Hall to the north, the Oval’s green space to the south, Derby Hall to the east, and University Hall to the west.

History

The Administration Building in 1925. (University Archives)

Let’s do this one last time. Bricker Hall was first designed in 1922 by university architect Joseph N. Bradford in the Beaux-Arts style. These plans were rejected by the Board of Trustees, who “instructed [Bradford] to re-study the plans.” Ouch. His revised drawings were approved a year later in 1923, and construction began that March by D. W. McGrath & Sons. The building was completed by August 1924 at a cost of $456,370, as administrative offices began moving in from University Hall on August 18th of that year. Bricker Hall was built as the “Administration Building,” a name it retained for more than 60 years.

The Administration Building’s lobby, undated. (University Archives)

Since Bricker Hall housed administrative offices, Bradford probably had a lot of freedom to richly detail the building. It is one of the most elaborate buildings on campus. The Beaux-Arts details convey a great sense of power and grandeur. They’re still mostly intact, but the alterations to the building have weakened its expression.

The Faculty Club inside the Administration Building c. 1930. (University Archives)

Before it moved out to its own dedicated building in 1940, the university Faculty Club occupied the third floor of Bricker Hall. After its departure, the third floor was remodeled to house more administrative offices, which took place between July-November of 1940.

Herbert Atkinson in 1920. (University Archives)

Interestingly, in the 1950s, a person’s ashes were interred at Bricker Hall. The individual was alumnus Herbert Atkinson, who played on the basketball team and graduated with a law degree. He was appointed as State Highway Department secretary after graduation, and later was elected as the Franklin County representative in Ohio’s state legislature. Atkinson started his own company, Atkinson-Dauksch Insurance and Bonding Company, which became one of Ohio’s largest by the time he retired in 1944. At Ohio State, he was vice president of the alumni association and member of the athletic board for 13 years, and served on the Board of Trustees from 1925-1948. He died in 1952, and the Board of Trustees unanimously approved his internment in the walls of Bricker Hall.

The atrium between the second and third floors before its removal in the 1960 renovation. (University Archives)

As seems to be typical for Ohio State during the 1960s and 1970s, a renovation occurred, which closed the beautiful atrium in the above picture and replaced it with more offices. This took place in 1961. Is the extra space really that necessary? Systems like air ducts and pipes in the basement were likewise removed or relocated in 1964 so that space could be used as offices too. At that point, just build an addition or annex.

University president Harold Enarson in his office in 1979. (Buckeye Stroll)

The university president’s office used to be in Bricker Hall. It moved out very recently, between 2021 and 2022. A Lantern article from 2021 states the office was still there, but currently the Office of the President website says it is located in the new University Square development on High Street, which was built from 2020-2022. Other administrative uses that have since departed include the Entrance Examiner, Alumni Association, Board of Trustees, Bursar, and University Registrar, according to a plaque inside.

Bricker Hall was renovated between 2024 and 2026 to house the Department of Economics. This process appears to have involved some preservation work, but there are multiple modern updates that have obscured original features, such as painted friezes on the second floor. Still, the unsightly divisions and alterations from the 1960s have been mostly undone.

In 1983, the Administration Building was renamed to Bricker Hall, after John Bricker. Bricker was an alumnus who graduated from the law school in 1920, holding positions such as Ohio Attorney General, the governor of Ohio, and US Senator. He was also the nominee for vice president in 1944. After his time in government, he was on the Board of Trustees from 1948-1969, serving as chairman in his last year.

No official university source mentions this (surprising absolutely nobody), but Bricker played a part in the university’s role in institutional racism during the 1930s. If you’ve read my article on Fechko House, you may recall how Black student Doris Weaver was denied a spot in the house after the Department of Home Economics learned of her race. She took her case to court, which ultimately ruled against her. However, the court still required Ohio State to explain why Weaver wasn’t admitted. Bricker was the one who wrote their response, stating that it was not the university’s prerogative to require students of different races to room together (at the time, Black students were not allowed to live on campus). USG passed a resolution in 2021 that called for the renaming of Bricker Hall, but it seems to have stagnated. Ohio State says they are working to evaluate building names, but only one request is currently under review by the task force created to do so, and it is not Bricker Hall. (Considering the university will not remove the name of pedophile and Epstein associate Les Wexner from its hospitals or the art center, it is apparently too much of a stretch to ask them to do so for a segregationist, too.)

Photos

One thing I noticed when photographing Bricker Hall is that I have been taking more numerous and intentional photos of buildings as of late. A trend I noticed in my earlier articles, going back to my cellphone photos of the Drake, is that my coverage was much more cursory and seemed almost mindless. Lots of poorly framed and off-center photos. I also took much fewer exterior and detail photos, as my Pomerene Hall article has just seven exterior photos, while this one has over 30. Granted, photography was something that I learned by doing--my early campus photos were some of the first I ever took on my camera, and these Bricker Hall photos are #13,758 through #13,840. That’s almost 14,000 photos later! (Most of these are unseen to this website and are awaiting future articles.) I sometimes wish I could improve upon my earlier coverage and revisit these buildings, but I’ve decided to leave them how they are, as documentation of my progress as a photographer.

Here is the south facade from the Oval:

Bricker Hall has the very standard Beaux-Arts Renaissance expression of campus buildings from this era. Ashlar base, main building shaft with pilasters, and a cornice above. It has a strong horizontal emphasis.

A closer look at the windows and pilasters:

The cornice has triglyphs, which are centered over the pilasters and are meant to represent the wooden boards that Greek temples were once built of. Each triglyph also has a mutule above on the soffit, a less common Doric feature that tends to be omitted on more modern buildings.

The building has three entrance portals. I believe the two side entrances are not currently used, and they retain their original bronze doors. The middle entrance has received new doors.

A closer look at one of the original doorways:

I like the metal border around the transom window:

The eastern and western wings are simpler in design and lack pilasters:

The expression is the same, and the cornice courses its way across the whole building. There is also quoining on the corners, seen in the gray stone border.

An oblique view from the southeast corner:

You can see the typical “dog-bone” shape of this era of campus building better here. Unlike the contemporary buildings on campus today, they are organized across a long cross-axis (a central hallway, usually), and each corner has a slightly larger wing.

Another view of the quoins, which are the stone blocks on the corner:

I liked my Thompson Library corner shot so much that I had to do it again:

Soffit is looking a little sooty, though.

The east facade was nicely lit in the mid-morning sunlight.

What bothers me here, though, is that the triglyphs do not align with the center of the piers.

This is an oversight that separates good Beaux-Arts designs from great ones, as in antiquity, this would never happen. I think Bradford may have been trying to maintain the triglyphs’ spacing on the north and south facades, or he was unable to stretch/shrink the building’s plan enough for them to align.

The entrances on this side are rectangular and lack the arch:

The metal acroterion decoration is similar as well:

The north facade is similar to the south, but it has a different expression with the wings:

The eastern and western wings recess slightly, referring to their projection on the south side, while two bays on the end of the central module poke out a bit to emphasize the entrances there.

The north facade while the building was under construction:

The rear entrances lack the fancy arched window and just have a simpler stone tympanum:

Detail:

I think the base has been converted to mechanical use here, as the central doors lead to nowhere and the windows are instead large vents:

Ivy-covered entablature:

Out-of-focus view of the cornice as it courses around the wings:

The west facade is largely identical to the east, with the addition of small stone slabs beneath the windows:

The main entrance has probably been truncated, as I find it doubtful there would be a small hallway leading in instead of a larger vestibule.

At least the entrance is still on-axis with this fancy staircase:

The balusters and newel posts are pretty elaborate compared to others on campus. The only similar ones I’ve seen are in Sullivant Hall.

Its broad sweep downwards is also very grand.

I believe most of the doors are replacements, but they are nice wood designs that are similar to what would have been originally installed:

The east entrance is decidedly less grand than the south:

Looking down the lobby today, it’s clear that the leftmost bays have been walled off for usage as offices:

Bradford’s original design was three bays wide, with the central bay being the main axis across the building. Now, this open space is asymmetrical and makes less sense architecturally.

I was aiming for the painted coffers and pilasters here, not the lights (which are replacements but match the building’s character):

This paint must date to the current renovation, as it is clean and nicely applied.

I think this may be the only working payphone on campus at this point:

Pilaster and staircase:

More balusters and a vent below:

It’s interesting to me how the newel post wraps around this stone globe:

This seal atop the stairs is likely modern, as well as the pilasters surrounding it:

Although I think this space is inferior in that it still lacks the original atrium effect, its renovated appearance isn’t bad.

I still think it’s one of the better classically-influenced rooms on campus and still has its original grandeur.

Looking down the staircase aisle we just came up:

It's interesting to me that the columns here have a shaft that is only partially fluted:

Detail of the Doric column capital with the indirect lighting surrounding:

These columns were not originally engaged with the wall, but they have been as part of the current renovation, and I bet that was the case in the 1960s, too.

They are Doric with an uncommon egg-and-dart band around the capital.

Looking north towards the staircase:

The marble bench is the only original piece of furniture here. Maybe it was too heavy to move? ;)

I think this conference room, with its fanciful wood wainscoting, was where the president’s office was. Unfortunately, the doors were locked.

The other aisle:

I thought this “door to nowhere” was weird.

The other staircases still have iron balusters and wood railings:

I LOVE this skylight on the third floor.

Remember, the space that is carpeted was once open to the floor below, and the columned space would have looked up to see this skylight. The effect is still there, but not quite how Bradford had designed it. Nonetheless, I’m glad it was restored as part of the renovation work.

Words escape me. I love the play of light and shadow here, as well as the classical mullion shapes: