Baird Hall News
First a little Betty Baird trivia:
"One of the most outstanding women's swimming and diving instructors La
Crosse State ever had," Betty Baird taught physical education here from 1947 to
1962.
During those 15 years, she advised the Catalina Club and the Tumbling Club.
After her untimely death in 1963, a residence hall was named for Baird "in
recognition of her great courage in adversity."
From page 15 of Celebrate 75 : University of Wisconsin--La Crosse, found at the Digital Resources link of Murphy Library's homepage.
And now the news:
Betty Baird Hall is gone. It has been demolished, along with Wilder and Trowbridge, to make room for a new acedemic building named Centennial Hall. This project has been in the news for the last few years and was finally begun in 2009. A few of us went back for a farewell (or was it farwell?) visit in April 2009 and made it into the Alumni magazine. Click here to take a look at our wonderful picture. We're on page 5 and again on page 30. It's not the best quality, but it's cool that we made it into the magazine. The picture looks way better in the print version if you can get a copy.
Below are a few pictures of the demolition and construction. Also, they have a live webcam set up so you can see the progress of the new construction. I have had trouble viewing it on Internet Explorer, but have been able to view it fine using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Click here to take a look. Good luck.
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And finally, here's some stories I found about the project at the Raquet and LaCrosse Tribune websites.
Adding more spots to sit, study, sleep - April 8, 2010
Centennial Hall on track and on budget - September 9, 2009
UW-L has groundbreaking ceremony for building - September 3, 2009
Halls go down to make way for new building - July 3, 2009
Upcoming housing crisis not without its rewards - April 20, 2009
Cost of on-campus living to rise in coming years - March 29, 2009
Centennial Hall 'on schedule' - November 18, 2008
Fix student housing first - November 03, 2008
Future residence halls still in question - October 14, 2008
Know Your Campus Resources - Wilder Hall 101 - September 10, 2008
New UW-L residence hall likely on Coate or Drake field - April 24, 2008
New academic building plans finalized - April 2, 2008
UW-L sets sights on new dorm - December 13, 2007
UW-L braces for housing crunch - November 17, 2007
New academic building creates need for additional housing - November 14, 2007
Housing shortage on the horizon - October 31, 2007
Plans for new academic building move forward - October 2, 2007
UW-L building clears commission - March 21, 2007
Questions about UW-L building plan - December 10, 2006
UW-L seeks ideas about off-campus housing - December 01, 2006
UW-L students, staff offer input on proposed new academic building - November 18, 2006
UW-L housing plans worry neighbors - February 10, 2006
UW-L looks at enrollment, building projects for 2006 - January 01, 2006
UW-L, landlords talk about housing options - October 25, 2005
New academics building in the works at UW-L - October 23, 2005
Chancellor addresses campus concerns - January 20, 2005
Residence hall among UW-L plans - December 30, 2003
UW-L watches, waits for state budget cuts
- December 27, 2002