Curry School’s Ruffner Hall Closed for Renovation
Ruffner Hall was probably considered to be quite handsome when it opened as the home of the Curry School of Education in 1973, after more than a dozen years of planning and construction.
Four decades later, it feels more than a little dated. When Bavaro Hall was built on the parking lot that separated Ruffner from Emmett Street, more than a few people commented on how it improved the views for passing motorists and pedestrians. Like its 1970s-era cousins University Hall, the Alderman Road residence halls and the pre-renovation Law School, the fairly funky Ruffner feels, well, a little out of place.
That doesn’t prevent Ruffner’s denizens from reminiscing a bit as the building closes for 18 months of renovation and modernizing.
The school has posted a page of photos of Ruffner’s past (submissions welcome), and is soliciting memories on the Curry Facebook page. The Curry blog includes a posting of “Ruffner Reminsciences” and there’s a “Renovating the Ruff” blog to help guide folks through the project.
On a personal note, my late father was a member of the Curry School faculty for decades, but I still have a hard time working up much fondness for the building itself. Even when the school hosted a wonderful memorial gathering for him, I didn’t even think to seek out his former offices. I suspect that memories of Ruffner, even for those who spent years there, are more wrapped up in the people who roamed its halls than in the building itself.
Ruffner-ites, now in exile, do you agree?
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Curry School’s Ruffner Hall Closed for Renovation | | January 9, 2013 @ 7:40 am
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