John W. Cook Hall, or Cook Hall, is a building that resembles a castle on the
Quad of
Illinois State University
Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...
in
Normal, Illinois
Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...
. Cook Hall, named for the university's
fourth president, has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
since the winter of 1986.
Cook Hall is one of "
Altgeld's castles": it was designed toward the end of the administration of Illinois Governor
John Peter Altgeld. Altgeld was a German native who favored
Gothic Revival architecture.
First proposed as a dormitory by
Richard Edwards during his presidency at Illinois State University, the building was not approved until 1895. Opened in 1897, design elements for the building were changed, and its overall purpose shifted to that of a gymnasium. The building, called "Gymnasium" also held the University Library. Renamed "John Cook Hall" in 1936, it was eventually converted for other uses as larger gyms were constructed on campus.
It currently houses the School of Music.
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]
See also
* Altgeld's castles
* John W. Cook
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook Hall, John W.
National Register of Historic Places in McLean County, Illinois
Buildings and structures in Bloomington–Normal
Illinois State University
Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball
University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois