Watterson Towers
Encyclopedia
Watterson Towers, a student residence hall at Illinois State University
, is one of the tallest dormitories in the world. Located in Normal, Illinois
, at the corner of Fell and Beaufort Streets, it was completed in 1967. The 28-story complex holds over 2,200 students and stands at 91m (298.5 feet). Watterson Towers was named after Arthur W. Watterson, a popular professor and chair of the ISU Geography Department, who taught at the University from 1946-1966. The building was designed by Fridstein and Fitch Architects in Chicago.
Externally, the most noticeable feature of the building is that it consists of two separate towers. From the outside an observer sees that the two towers are connected at several points by breezeways (a misnomer, as they are not exposed to the outside in any way). However, to the residents, this division into towers goes almost unnoticed, as what is far more important is the internal division of the building into houses. Watterson is composed of ten of these houses, (five in each tower), and each is considered—in terms of campus governance—to be its own residence hall. The houses are named after the first ten Secretaries of State
of the United States.
Each "house" consists of five consecutive floors of a tower. Houses at the same level are paired both physically (in terms of access, see below) and in terms of student governance. For example, the bottom five residential floors of the South Tower comprise "Smith House," and the bottom five residential floors of the North Tower comprise "Jefferson
House." Collectively, these are referred to as "Smith-Jefferson," and some governance functions, such as Residential Assistant oversight, are organized on this paired level.
Within a house, most floors are divided into four "suites" consisting of six rooms each. The suites include four double occupancy rooms, a triple room, and a single occupancy room. However, on the middle (third) floor of each house, there are only two suites, as the area for the other two suites is taken up by other things, including the connecting breezeways and some study lounges.
North Tower Houses
From top to bottom
South Tower Houses
From top to bottom
Illinois State University
Illinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...
, is one of the tallest dormitories in the world. Located in Normal, Illinois
Normal, Illinois
Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It had a population of 52,497 as of the 2010 census. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
, at the corner of Fell and Beaufort Streets, it was completed in 1967. The 28-story complex holds over 2,200 students and stands at 91m (298.5 feet). Watterson Towers was named after Arthur W. Watterson, a popular professor and chair of the ISU Geography Department, who taught at the University from 1946-1966. The building was designed by Fridstein and Fitch Architects in Chicago.
Externally, the most noticeable feature of the building is that it consists of two separate towers. From the outside an observer sees that the two towers are connected at several points by breezeways (a misnomer, as they are not exposed to the outside in any way). However, to the residents, this division into towers goes almost unnoticed, as what is far more important is the internal division of the building into houses. Watterson is composed of ten of these houses, (five in each tower), and each is considered—in terms of campus governance—to be its own residence hall. The houses are named after the first ten Secretaries of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
of the United States.
Each "house" consists of five consecutive floors of a tower. Houses at the same level are paired both physically (in terms of access, see below) and in terms of student governance. For example, the bottom five residential floors of the South Tower comprise "Smith House," and the bottom five residential floors of the North Tower comprise "Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
House." Collectively, these are referred to as "Smith-Jefferson," and some governance functions, such as Residential Assistant oversight, are organized on this paired level.
Within a house, most floors are divided into four "suites" consisting of six rooms each. The suites include four double occupancy rooms, a triple room, and a single occupancy room. However, on the middle (third) floor of each house, there are only two suites, as the area for the other two suites is taken up by other things, including the connecting breezeways and some study lounges.
North Tower Houses
From top to bottom
- MadisonJames MadisonJames Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
House - MarshallJohn MarshallJohn Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...
House - PickeringTimothy PickeringTimothy Pickering was a politician from Massachusetts who served in a variety of roles, most notably as the third United States Secretary of State, serving in that office from 1795 to 1800 under Presidents George Washington and John Adams.-Early years:Pickering was born in Salem, Massachusetts to...
House - RandolphEdmund RandolphEdmund Jennings Randolph was an American attorney, the seventh Governor of Virginia, the second Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General.-Biography:...
House - Jefferson House
South Tower Houses
From top to bottom
- Van BurenMartin Van BurenMartin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
House - ClayHenry ClayHenry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
House - AdamsJohn Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
House - MonroeJames MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
House - Smith House
Elevator system
Watterson's unique design prevents it from having traditional elevator service, that is, the six elevators that operate in the building do not stop at every floor.- There are five residential elevator stops. Each is at the 3rd-floor breezeway of one of the following pairs of houses:. Smith-Jefferson
. Monroe-Randolph
. Adams-Pickering
. Marshall-Clay
. Madison-Van Buren
- However, only around 10% of Watterson's residents live on a 3rd floor. Nonetheless, other residents also get off the elevator on the 3rd floor, but then take stairs to their floor—up or down—a maximum of two flights. For example, a resident who lived on Clay 4 would get off at the Marshall-Clay Breezeway and then need to walk up one flight of stairs to reach her room.
- In addition to the residential stops, elevators also bring residents to Service Level and Formal Lobby Level, and Informal Level. The Service and Formal Lobby levels both provide access to ground level exits, as well as the dining hall, Watterson Commons. The Informal Level, which is the topmost level accessible to residents, is the location of laundry facilities. Students can check out keys to music practice rooms, some with a piano available. It also provides observers with the highest observation deck in the state outside of the city of Chicago.