Salk Hall
Encyclopedia
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
is a Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
state and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 to support the preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA....
Historic Landmark. The Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
building is named after Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk
Jonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
, who conducted his research on the first polio vaccine in a basement laboratory while on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
.
History
The main structure of Salk Hall is the former city owned Pittsburgh Municipal Hospital for Contagious Diseases constructed in 1941 on land the university had given to the city. It was designed by Richard Irving and Theodore Eicholz. The 225-bed hospital was originally part of the Medical Center associated with the University and was intended to be used primarily to treat communicable diseases. However, when antibiotics virtually eliminated the need to quarantine patients, the building had become a financial burden on the city. Therefore, in September 1949, work began on remodeling the building, and it temporarily housed Pitt's School of Public HealthUniversity of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
The Graduate School of Public Health is one of 17 schools comprising the University of Pittsburgh. The school, founded in 1948, was first led by Thomas Parran, surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service. It is ranked as the 11th best such school in the United States by US News and World...
. In October 1957, the Municipal Hospital was formally acquired from the city for $1.3 million and renamed Jonas Salk Hall. For a time, the upper floors of the building served as a residence for students. Pitt remodeled it to house the School of Dental Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, located in Pittsburgh, PA, is one of Pitt’s six schools of the health sciences and is closely affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center....
and School of Pharmacy
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy is the graduate pharmacy school of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Founded in 1878, it offers Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, as well as a residency training program...
in 1961-1962.
Annex
The Salk Hall Annex, a major renovation and three-story addition designed by the architectural firm Deeter, Ritchey, and Sippel for the Dental School, was completed the Terrace Street side of the building in 1967 for a cost of over $5 million. Today, it serves as a main entrance for Salk Hall and the dental clinics.A new $50.6 million addition and renovation to Salk Hall was announced in January 2010. It will include the construction of an 80000 square feet (7,432.2 m²) research tower in the parking area behind the existing building. The new tower is planned to house laboratories and support spaces relocated from their current home in Salk Hall in order to free up space for additional classrooms and offices in the original structure.
Dental Museum
A dental museum is housed in the first floor reception area of Salk Hall. The museum contains a variety of original dental artifacts, including a circa 1910 dental chair, and x-ray machine and instrument cabinet from the 1920s.Pharmacy Museum
Also contained in Salk Hall is the Elmer H. Grimm Sr. Pharmacy Museum, which opened in the fall of 1996. Located on the fourth floor, the museum holds pharmacyPharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
memorabilia such as drug products, equipment, and sundry products dating back to the early 20th century. Among the museum's possessions are two hand-carved finials, which were often found over the door or partitions that separated the main part of the pharmacy from the back room where pharmacists did most of their work, an old-fashioned powder mill
Powder mixture
A powder is an assembly of dry particles dispersed in air. If two different powders are mixed perfectly, three theoretical powder mixtures can be obtained: the random mixture, the ordered mixture or the interactive mixture. - Different powder types :...
, and a konseal machine.