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Jones Hall

Jones Hall is a student dormitory designed by Robert O'Connor, Class of 1916, and named in honor of Allen Northey Jones, Class of 1917. Jones Hall is located in the “South Campus Neighborhood,” which also includes Elton, Funston, Jackson, Smith, Summit East, and Summit North, Summit South, and Trinity Hall.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for Jones Hall were held on February 10, 1953 and the hall opened later in 1953, forming part of a courtyard quadrangle with nearby Elton Hall. The cost for the 137 resident dormitory was $530,000.

Jones Hall. Photo Credit: Cheryl Cape

In 1983, 30 years after its opening, Jones Hall, among other dorms, was the focus of a Trinity Tripod analysis and review of various dorms on campus. At that time, Jones was coed, with female students living on the top two floors and male students living on the bottom two floors. The layout consisted of double and single rooms. Single rooms were considered cramped with barely enough room for a desk, bed, and dresser. Despite some of the negative comments about the rooms, at that time Jones was considered among students a good space for socializing, as room doors were often open.

A year later, the Tripod illustrated acute overcrowding in Jones as the preferred occupancy of the hall was 119 students. However, at the beginning of the fall semester, the actual number of students housed in Jones was 136.

The Office of Residential Life established a new freshmen housing program (The Freshmen Experience) in Jones for the fall of 1989; 107 freshmen were to be housed in Jones, with no upper-level students. Seven Residential Advisors (RAs), as well as a Program Liaison, and Resident Coordinator, were to accompany the students. The purpose of this change was to increase programming in a more focused residential area for freshmen. Renovation during the summer of 1989 was to replace old furniture in the rooms. The new program also allowed freshmen to move to Jones from other dorms on campus, such as Wiggins, Park Place and Boardwalk. The program, which included a course, University 101, and a judicial dormitory council, received positive feedback and was considered an initial success. In 1990, Jarvis Hall was added to the program, but by the fall of 1991, Jarvis was returned to all-student housing and neighboring Elton Hall joined Jones as the two primary all-freshmen dormitories.

On February 17, 2010, a fire broke out on the unoccupied fourth floor of Jones Hall. The fire, ruled arson due to a lit cigarette left on a chair cushion, sent one Campus Safety officer to the hospital due to possible smoke inhalation, and caused the evacuation of all residents from the dorm to a gathering area in the Washington Room in nearby Mather Hall. The fire was quickly extinguished with the assistance of the Hartford Fire Department and the sprinkler system in the building. Students were allowed to return to their rooms within a few hours of evacuation. The Campus Safety officer was later released from the hospital with no lasting effects.

Sources

Trinity Tripod, 02/23/2010.

Trinity Tripod, 04/16/1991.

Trinity Tripod, 05/09/1989.

Trinity Tripod, 09/18/1984.

Trinity Tripod, 09/27/1983.

Trinity Tripod, 04/15/1975.

Trinity College Alumni Magazine, May 1964, p. 4.

Trinity College Bulletin, February 1953, p. 1.


jones_hall.txt · Last modified: 2024/08/30 17:34 by bant06