A Long Journey to a Dedicated Building for

Arts & Sciences

On April 16, 1923, the Maine State Legislature approved funding for UMaine to construct an Arts and Sciences building. The appropriations totaled $170,000, the equivalent of $3.17 million dollars in today’s currency. According to Dr. Stevens himself, when he arrived at UMaine in 1891, classes on literature and science were held in “two rooms borrowed from a building dedicated to agriculture and two additional rooms shared with other departments.” An entire building solely for Arts and Sciences marked vital progress for the university and its students.

Documentation that the Maine State Legislature approved funding to construct a building solely for the College of Arts and Sciences. 

No architect had yet been selected for the project. 

University of Maine Photo Archive, Arts and Sciences Building Folder, p. 40, Special Collections.

A stream of students crossing the mall in between classes. 

This photo was taken around 1925, right after the building was complete. 

University of Maine Photo Archive, "Stevens Hall Nothing Around It 1925," Special Collections.

This photograph above shows just how undeveloped the mall was when Stevens Hall was first built. The beautiful elm trees which are core features of today’s mall environment would not be planted for another decade. The pathways, like most roads on campus during this time, were unpaved. North and South Stevens (North Stevens was renamed Boudreau Hall in 2022) would not be built until 1933. The summer following their completion, a dedication ceremony was conducted for Dr. Stevens. The buildings behind these would not follow until decades later.

After competing amongst over a dozen other architects, architects Crowell and Lancaster won the bid in June 1923. Crowell (Class of 1898) studied engineering at UMaine. He and Lancaster went into business in 1906 and their influence reached across the state. They rebuilt most of Bangor after the Great Fire of 1911 and by the time Crowell retired in 1956, he had designed over one thousand buildings, including 44 at UMaine. Many are on the National Historic Register. The company, now called WBRC, remains a major Bangor-based firm and continues to design buildings for the university. 

Crowell (left) and Lancaster (right) in their later years. They were in their mid to late twenties when they began working together. Both retired when they were eighty. Date unknown. Credit: WBRC

Problems arose for Crowell and Lancaster as they began to build Stevens Hall. The soft ground of Marsh Island forced workers to dig deeper than anticipated to find stable ground, which delayed the project. By January 1924, only the foundation had been complete. The extra work added over $8,000 to building costs, roughly $152,000 today. The Board of Trustees were anxious since the fall semester was quickly approaching, and the original plan was to be ready by then. The men assured them the building would be open in time.

Excerpts of letter from C.P. Crowell and Walter Lancaster to Col. Strickland, President of the Board of Trustees, February 26, 1924. 

University of Maine Photo Archive, Arts and Sciences Building Folder, p. 5, Special Collections.

Photo of Stevens, South Stevens, and Boudreau (formerly North Stevens) in 1935 after the elm trees were planted on the mall as part of President Boardman's campus beautification efforts. Sadly, disease killed these trees and others were later planted in their place. University of Maine Photo Archives, f. 1 no. 12, Special Collections.

University of Maine Photo Archives, f. 1, no. 7, Special Collections.

The photo above of Stevens Hall shows a WMEB FM radio station sign in the center window of the second floor (Room 275) and also the radio antenna extending up from the rooftop cuppola. The student-run radio station was first established in Stevens Hall in 1962. It later occupied various campus locations and is currently in the basement of the Memorial Union.