Beinecke Plaza

Hewitt University Quadrangle, commonly known as Beinecke Plaza, is a plaza at the center of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the home of the university's administration, main auditorium, and dining facilities. The quadrangle was created with the construction of the university's Bicentennial Buildings and Woodbridge Hall in 1901. Until 1917, it was known as University Court. The completion of the Beinecke Library created subterranean library facilities beneath the courtyard, establishing the present appearance of the paved plaza and sunken courtyard.

The Bicentennial Buildings–University Commons, the Memorial Rotunda, and Woolsey Hall–were the first buildings constructed for Yale University as opposed to one of its constituent entities (Yale College, Sheffield Scientific School, or others), reflecting a greater emphasis on central administration initiated by Presidents Timothy Dwight and Arthur Twining Hadley. Constructed in 1901-2 for the University's bicentennial, the limestone Beaux-Arts buildings linked the College buildings on the Old Campus with the Sheffield Scientific buildings on Hillhouse Avenue. They were designed by John M. Carrère and Thomas Hastings of Carrère and Hastings.

The University Commons, simply known as "Commons" on campus, is a timber-trussed banqueting hall. It served as the university-wide dining hall until the completion of the residential colleges, Sterling Law Building, and Hall of Graduate Studies in the 1930s.

...
Wikipedia