Science Hall
Site: Adjacent to the Power Plant
A wooden frame building stood between the lake and the steam plant when the Westhampton property was purchased in 1910. After spending $15,265 to update the building, it became the Science Hall for the new campus and was used on alternate days by men and women for chemistry, physics, and biology classes and laboratories.
Unlike the new buildings being constructed on the Westhampton campus, the Science Hall was not fireproof. At midnight on October 20, 1925, a fire started, probably in the chemistry laboratory, and swept through the second story of the building, igniting the chemicals stored there. The whole building was on fire within minutes. Attempts to save some of the equipment were given up after chemicals began exploding. Within one hour and 45 minutes, the building had been destroyed. Just as the fire was in danger of spreading to the Steam Plant, a fire truck arrived and put out the flames. The damage was estimated by President Boatwright to be $50,000, which included a value of $20,000 for the building and $30,000 for the equipment. In addition, the fire destroyed valuable research projects and manuscripts.
After the fire, science classes and laboratories were held at various locations around campus. Large science lectures were held in the Y.M.C.A. building; physics was moved to Ryland Hall; and biology and chemistry were moved to the Playhouse. The Playhouse was a frame structure that had also been part of the original amusement park. Advanced chemistry was moved to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which had offered the use of its laboratories. A precedent had been set in 1910 when Richmond College had offered its labs for use after a fire at the University College of Medicine, which merged in 1913 with MCV.
Most of the science classes and labs remained in the Playhouse until Puryear, Maryland, and Richmond Halls were built between 1927 and 1933.