Adams House
Adams House (more commonly referred to as the Roy Adams House) was a two-story small house student residence-turned-office building located at the southwestern corner of Avenue I and Bowers Boulevard, facing north.
The building was the original home of the Texas Eta chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. When the fraternity moved off-campus, SHSU used the building for several years for the Housing and Food Services department [2].
In the early-to-mid 1990s, the university again used the building for student housing and identified it as Adams House - presumably once Adams Hall was demolished [3]. The building housed 36 mixed-gender students and was designated an academic development house [4]. It was also one of two small houses consistently shown to be handicap accessible [4].
The Department of Residence Life classified this building as part of various geographic housing groups, most recently The Valley [5].
In October 2005, SHSU announced the building would house offices beginning in January 2006, to prepare for the eventual demolition of the Frels and Wilson buildings. SHSU last used the house for student housing during the fall 2005 semester.
The Office of Research and Special Programs (ORSP) moved to the building in fall 2006 [6], and later moved to University Heights in March 2016.
Adams and the three surrounding houses were approved for demolition during the fall 2014 semester [7] but remained standing until July 2016.
SHSU built the Biology Laboratory Building on the site in 2018.
Timeline
1959:
Constructed
HHFA# Tex-41-CH-90(D) Unit K-3 [1]
1962:
Texas Eta chapter founded
Renamed Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity House
Unknown:
Repurposed as Department of Housing office
c. 1994:
Repurposed as student housing; renamed Adams
Jan. 2006:
Converted to offices
Sep. 19, 2006:
Office of Research and Special Programs (ORSP) open house [6]
2013:
Eventual demotion announced [7]
Mar. 2016
ORSP moves to University Heights
July 2016
Demolished
Resources
Sources
[1] SHSC Revenue Bond Buildings (c.1965).
[2] Campus Map (Jun. 1, 1990).
[3] Campus Map (May 15, 1994).
[4] "Information-At-A-Glance" - Department of Residence Life (shsu.edu). (May 9, 1997).
[5] "Residence Facilities" - Department of Residence Life (shsu.edu). (c. Fall 2005).
[6] "Office To Open Its 'House'" - Today@Sam (shsu.edu) (Sep. 17, 2006).
[7] "2014 SHSU Construction Projects On Track". Houstonian (Oct. 1, 2013).