Tomorrow morning Higgins Hall will cast a shadow for the
last time on the skyline of Western Illinois University’s west side of campus. After
standing tall for fifty years as the tallest building in McDonough County, it
is time to lay her to rest after a life served well. Built in 1967, Higgins was made to hold 1200
residents with twenty floors including a penthouse dining hall on the
nineteenth floor. Tens of thousands of students and fifty years later it will
get its “Last Call” when the bell tolls nine in the morning.
When Higgins opened its doors Lyndon Johnson was the Time
“Man of the Year’. Songs like Aretha
Franklin’s “Respect”, “To Sir with Love” by Lulu, and “The Letter” by the Box
Tops were topping the Billboard charts. “The Graduate”, “Cool Hand Luke”, and
the “Dirty Dozen” were popular at the movies. Doritos made its entrance onto
the world stage. “Andy Griffin”, “The Lucy Show”, and “Gunsmoke” were smash
television hits. Civil unrest wasn’t far away in 1968 with assassinations of
Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy. Higgins certainly started off with a bang and
fittingly tomorrow will end with one.
On the eve of its destruction I am reminded that they don’t
build them like Higgins anymore. When it was erected it was a towering sky
scrapper on the prairie. A monstrosity of a building that housed more students
than the population of many surrounding towns in such a rural setting. It had
all the latest amenities of its time, as well as the colors associated with
that era (you know what I am talking about). It created quite the buzz---- but
the world is moving so damn fast now that, in its later years, it was
considered out of date for all intents and purposes. Today’s students live in
residence halls (not dormitories). They are built much closer to the ground for
efficiencies sake and have all the latest bells and whistles craved by this
generation. Students desire suites and private bathrooms and demand the latest
technology and Wi-Fi capabilities to power all the devices that operate their
daily lives.
When Higgins was born there were house phones instead of
cell phones. Residents gathered in the lounge for various community events
instead of being tethered together though social media. Television sets were a
luxury, not an expectation. Those televisions had three channels not three
hundred. They ate together as a floor in the dining room (and had food fights)
instead of getting take out and going back to their single room. There were
panty raids and various other shenanigans. There was streaking and curfews and
dress codes. Things today we would never dream of dealing with or implementing.
I have always thought residence halls are real, living,
breathing things. They are not just four walls and a roof. Not just a place to
eat and study. Higgins was certainly much more than those things. In its lifetime
it gave birth to inspiration and dreams. It watched some of them shattered as
well. It housed NFL teams and students. It started careers. People met their
future spouses and forever friends. First loves were found. Some had their first drink there. They figured out
what they wanted to do with their life (at least some did). Higgins gave us
nurses, polices officers, fire fighters, teachers, and business leaders. It
housed individuals that have gone on to tremendous successes over their course
of their life. Students made foolish mistakes and learned from them. Sadly some
even died there. Life and learning happen and the world is a better place for
it.
When nine o’clock rolls around tomorrow we will hear several
loud “booms” signaling Higgins Hall’s “Last Call”. Like a light flickering on
and off at the end of the night in a downtown bar saying to us “You can’t stay
here”. Those synchronized thunderous tones in our ears will be telling Higgins
it is time to go home one final time. But
before that last “Big Bang’ it is important to take a moment and celebrate the
memories and successes of everyone and everything that made Higgins alive for
all these years. The laughter, tears, friends, family, and life changing
experiences. That part can never be taken away from anyone ever associated with
it.
When that final hour comes we will all be watching.
Thousands here on campus and thousands more all over the world on the internet.
In less than thirty seconds-- fifty years will coming crashing to the ground.
Andrew Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye” will be queued up on the speakers. Some
will be crying, some will be drinking (some doing both), and most everyone will
be remembering the Old Gray Lady that stood so tall for so long. That home away
from home that meant so much to so many. She gave us community, fellowship, and
another family. A building well lived in and well loved. A throwback to another time. A true classic. --------It’s “Last Call” Higgins and it’s time to go home.
Forever and forever, farewell. If we meet
again, then we’ll smile indeed. If not, it’s true, this parting was well made.---Shakespeare- from Julius Caesar
As a fellow writer, MHS and WIU grad, and a "townie" as I was so often referred to, let me tell you this article made tears roll down my face as you so eloquently describe a buidling that changed the landscape of the campus and was a fixture outside my childhood bedroom window on Penny Lane. I walked by Higgins Hall growing up nearly every day, visited my gymnastics teacher who resided on one of the floors. I couldn't get over how cool it would be to eat at the top of a building and dreamed how fancy it must be. The cafeteria lights shown brightly and when they were turned off, it was time to fall asleep. My dad walked to his Stipes Hall office and strolled by Higgins Hall nearly every day. In the summer the Higgins Hall parking lot was a great bike gathering place for the Riverdale kid clan who played outside all the time, cause your mom kicked you out of the house back then.
ReplyDeleteTaking down this building kinda took a little part my WIU and Macomb memories with it in bittersweet way. It's hard to believe that one building, so grand and luxurious at the time, a towering landmark for a small midwestern town located smack dab in the middle of basically a corn field, could be gone so quickly. That's ok, while the dump trucks are filled with debris the memories from 50 years are in spirit and you can't haul that away.
It was a bitter/sweet day for many. I heard so many stories this weekend--not unlike your own. It reinforces to me that these are way more than buildings. As I said at a Friday night alumni event before the implosion---It makes me feel like our staff is doing its job in building community that there was so much emotion and passion regarding Higgins coming down. Definitely a landmark and a home to many more that one could have imagined. Glad you liked the post.
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