Boardman Hall

Boardman Hall, ca. 1900. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

The Boardman Hall of Natural History housed Trinity's Museum of Natural History, and the laboratories and classrooms of the Biology and Natural Sciences departments. Later, it housed Education, Fine Arts, Geology, Mathematics, Psychology, Community Affairs, and even (for a short time) the Connecticut Educational Television station WEDH Channel 24. Boardman stood behind Cook Hall in the middle of what is now Gates Quad from its completion in 1900 until it was demolished in 1971.

The College announced in 1891 that a “biological laboratory” or Natural History Building would be its next project, after completing Alumni Hall in 1887 and Jarvis Physical Laboratory in 1888. The Trustees published building plans in 1893 by architect William C. Brocklesby, Class of 1869, which depicted a “squat, two-storied terracotta and brick building” and immediately began a fundraiser to help secure funds to construct it the next year, estimating it would cost $40,000.

Unfortunately, in 1893, the nation succumbed to one of the worst economic depressions in American history. The Trustees revived the fundraiser in subsequent years and received, among many small donations, a pledge of $10,000 from trustee John Pierpont Morgan. Ground was broken in 1899 and it was formally dedicated on December 7, 1900, under the name “The Hall of Natural History.” The building remained unnamed until 1901, when the Trustees voted to name it in honor of the Hon. William Whiting Boardman, L.L.D., who had served as a trustee for 39 years, and who died in 1871. His wife, Lucy Boardman, also pledged a generous sum to Trinity College in her will.

The structure at completion was somewhat larger than stipulated in the original Brocklesby plans: it was 122 feet long and 72 feet wide with 3 stories in the shape of a parallelogram. The Natural History Museum encompassed all three floors. Additionally, the first floor contained lecture rooms, a library, and work spaces. The second floor consisted of botanical and other laboratories, corresponding libraries, and work spaces, and the third floor contained zoology as well as spaces for post-graduate courses. The basement provided space for Geology and Mineralogy departments and an aquarium and rooms for cold storage.

Boardman Hall was designed by Trinity alumnus William Brocklesby '69, and was a “squat” building that was located on the crest of the Gates Quad hill. Boardman, along with Jarvis Scientific Laboratory, Stickney Hall, Alumni Hall, and St. John Observatory, formed an eclectic set of outbuildings separate from the Long Walk and incongruent with the Burges Plan.

Boardman Hall (bottom right) as viewed from the west in 1927. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

Boardman Hall (visible between Mather Hall and Austin Arts Center), ca. 1966. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

The Mathematics Department moved to the second floor of Boardman sometime before 1940. The Fine Arts Department, which originally occupied a single room in Seabury Hall, moved into Boardman Hall in 1945.

By the 1960s, the Life Science and Biology departments had outgrown the outmoded building and the museum had been relegated to the first floor as other departments took over. Bringing Boardman Hall up to code would be exorbitant: the numerous issues in the building included a dumbwaiter system and no elevator for three “tall” floors, lack of accessible entries and fire suppression systems, but most of all, outdated educational spaces and lack of storage, which students and faculty feared would impact incoming students interested in studying biology and other life sciences. Further, Trinity's plans for development were incongruent with Boardman's architectural style and location, as the plans called for “the formation of a new quadrangle with the completion of the Math-Physics Building and the Fine Arts Center on the south and east sections respectively. Clearly, from an architectural stand-point, Boardman cannot be allowed to stand as the center of a quad composed of modern, brick structures.” ¹⁾

In 1965, the Mathematics and Fine Arts departments moved out of Boardman Hall into their new facilities. These departures opened up space for the Biology Department as it awaited the College's decision on building a new Life Sciences Building which was eventually constructed in the following years. In the meantime, the Biology Department received new furniture, and temporary renovations opened new laboratory space.

In 1966, the Connecticut Educational Television (now Connecticut Public Television) station WEDH channel 24 moved from the basement of the Trinity Library, where it had operated since its inception in 1962, to the first floor of Boardman. The move was seen as temporary as the eventual fate of Boardman was being decided. As a result, the Natural History Museum was removed to the basement of the building and eventually dismantled around 1967. Its collections were transferred to the University of Connecticut and the Children's Museum. At the same time, Geology was dropped from Trinity's curriculum.

Boardman Hall was razed in 1971.