Life outside Lincoln Hall goes on as usual. But inside it's eerily quiet and virtually empty for the first time in almost a century.
It took an entire summer, but all faculty, staff, and students have vacated the historic classroom and office building in anticipation of the sixty-five million dollar renovation.
Box-by-box and room-by-room, workers have cleared years of accumulated books, papers, desks, chairs, computers, and countless other items to make way for the work to begin.
"We started moving out in June, and we had over 230 individuals move out of the building, which included the departments of political science, sociology, communications, student academic affairs, parts of our technology team, Atlas, and the Dean's...
"...Office. It's a very difficult move, because we're moving everyone to a new location--several locations, actually, on campus."
Cleaning house after 98 years of history has produced some bizarre discoveries. Lincoln Hall Theatre has its charm, but emptying its underbelly prompted one worker to recall the T.V. show "Tales From the Crypt."
"Thirty-four years ago this was the theatre building, so everything was stored down here. And when Krannert Center was built, we moved over to that building. But the majority of our storage still stayed here."
"...It's whisky barrels, crates, vacuums, coffins, sofas, chairs, tables, body parts."
Doors to the building are now chained shut. Administrators hope to reopen a 21st century Lincoln Hall by Fall 2012, by which time most students on campus won't even remember what it used to be.
