Eberly Hall
Coordinates: 40°26′45″N 79°57′30″W / 40.445885°N 79.958372°W
Eberly Hall is an academic building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed by architect Benno Janssen and dedicated in 1921, Eberly Hall was originally named Alumni Hall, and is still sometimes referred to as "Old Alumni Hall" (Alumni Hall is now the name of another University Building).
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, by law of Congress, all male college students were subject to military training. In the spring of 1918, Pitt began to train students for war-related industrial work. The war activity had caused a huge influx of students to Pitt and an equally large shortage of space. Pitt alumni began a fund raising campaign to construct a sorely needed new building. The campaign was deemed a smashing success in that it raised $670,000 ($8.01 million in 2016 dollars), at the time $70,000 more than was needed due at least in part to both the excitement of alumni with the championship caliber play of the Pitt football team (national champions or undefeated in 1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1920), a $100,000 ($1.2 million in 2016 dollars) contribution directly from the Athletic Committee's football receipts, and profits from the productions of the student theatre's Cap and Gown Club. During construction which started in January 1920, it was discovered that the hillside was undercut with coal mines, some of which were on fire and emitting smoke upon digging. The mines were filled as construction progressed with the last fire being extinguished about a year after Eberly Hall was completed.[1] By 1921 Eberly Hall (then called Alumni Hall), was dedicated and signified a departure from and end to the original design for the University's campus, a hill side Acropolis Plan by Henry Hornbostel. Ironically, Eberly Hall's architect, Benno Janssen, was the runner-up to Hornbostel in a national architectural competition for the design of the original campus plan. [2]
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