Not all buildings on campus were built from the ground up. Three exceptions come to mind. We have three Quonset huts. They were built elsewhere and assembled on school grounds for quick and cheap construction.
A Quonset hut is a lightweight corrugated metal structure with a curved roof. Thousands were produced for military use during World War II. The military sold its surplus huts to the public after the war. Many remain standing throughout the United States as outbuildings and businesses.
We have two huts in the maintenance yard in the rear part of the campus. Bill Ramborger, ‘62, remembers the huts in 1955, the year of his arrival at CSDR. The cream hut on the left is a lounge room for groundskeepers. The scarlet hut at the right houses building supplies and equipment. With 35 years of service in the residence halls, Paul Ventura remembers storing bicycles in the hut at right. He further adds that the Rubidoux staff stored athletic gear there.
Around 1974, Athletic Director Lynn Davidson bought a prefabricated Quonset hut that was soon assembled in the athletic field near the baseball field. The purpose is to store sports equipment such as track hurdles, pole vault landing pits, baseball bases, etc.
This storage hut will probably be removed to make room for the $45 million athletic construction that will begin sometime in 2025. The new construction will also include a new storage room to house the athletic equipment.
It is interesting to note that we have had three World War II era military huts for campus needs for decades at CSDR.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
20 October 2024
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