SUGGEST AUDITORIUM TO PERPETUATE MEMORY OF WAR DEAD

A large auditorium building is the third of the series of suggestions for a memorial in honor of the members of the University who gave their lives in the great war. In previous issues of the CRIMSON, the plans for a new gymnasium, and a memorial shaft to be erected in a park on the west bank of the Charles River were briefly considered. This article will deal with the possibilities, offered by an auditorium as a memorial to the University's dead.

The exterior view and floor plan printed herewith are of the Hill Memorial Auditorium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Although the University auditorium would not necessarily be similar to that shown above, the Hill Memorial gives a good idea of the type of building that is needed here. The main floor contains seats for about 800 people, which, combined with the balcony and gallery, makes accommodations for over a thousand spectators. In addition to the main lecture hall, which contains a large organ, there are several dressing rooms, lobbies, rest rooms, and check rooms, which complete the equipment of the building.

In order to meet the needs of this University the auditorium ought to have a larger foyer, or outer halfway, than that provided in the Hill Memorial. In this might be placed a tablet engraved with the names of the men who fell in the war, and a short account of the military history of each.

At the University there is a great need for an auditorium such as this, which would have a seating capacity for more than one thousand people. At present the New Lecture Hall is the only place in which, athletic mass meetings, and other undergraduate demonstrations may be held, and that buildings is already being outgrown. Another need of a large auditorium appears now, as it does annually, in the lack of a suitable place in which to hold the Commencement exercises, where more of the guests may witness them. Again, if an adequate auditorium were provided it would afford a better place for holding recitals of the University Musical Clubs.