File:Administration Building, University of Idaho, - Moscow, Idaho (4258410395).jpg

No. 30 ADMINISTRATION BLDG MOSCOW IDAHO U. OF I. Date: Circa 1913 Source Type: Postcard Printer, Publisher, Photographer: AZO, probably Pacific Photo Company (#30) Postmark: None Collection: Steven R. Shook Remark: This Administration Building at the University of Idaho replaced the original Administration Building that stood on this site between October 1899 and March 30, 1906; the original Administration Building was destroyed by fire. The building seen here is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Built at a total cost of $415,769, the building was constructed in four phases. The first phase of construction, which consisted of the entire portion of the building facing east, was completed in 1909 at a cost of $140,000 (paid for with a series of state bonds). The second phase, which cost $75,000 (state appropriation) and was completed in 1912, consisted of the north wing auditorium. The third phase, which cost $90,000 (state appropriation) and was completed in 1920, consisted of the south wing. The final phase, which cost $110,769 (funded by student fees) and was completed in 1936, consisted of an extension of the south wing to house the university library.

The Tudor Gothic structure was designed by Boise architect J. E. Tourtellotte. It is constructed with a concrete base, red brick, and buff colored Boise sandstone trim. Total floor area of the structure is 109,824 square feet.

The first production to take place in the auditorium was Priscilla, a comic opera.

Note that in this image that there are no arms on the tower clock. Dr. Martin Fuller Angell, as the university's Head of the Department of Physics, spearheaded effort to get numerals placed on the tower in 1913. At the time the clock numerals were installed, however, no funding was available to install the clock works and hands. Leonard Halland, the Physics Department's shop head, produced and installed an impulse drive mechanism in 1922 that also included carved wooden hands. It was found that the clock was unreliable. Electricity to run the drive unit would often shut off, resulting in the incorrect time being displayed. Furthermore, the wooden hands would become heavy with moisture or frost and the drive unit was not powerful enough to move them it that condition. Finally, university electrician Ralph Kennedy installed ½ horsepower motor and reducer gears in the clock tower in 1927. The wooden hands were also replaced with metal hands.

This structure is still [2014] utilized as the administrative headquarters for the university.