A-Z: W

Major renovations and additions to the Allen Fieldhouse complex in 2009 enhanced this service center for student athletes, coaches and staff, and KU Athletics. The name honors donor Ken Wagnon.

The facility was built in 1992 and renovated in 1995 and 2005. It houses the offices of the athletics director, men’s and women’s basketball coaches; Olympic sports coaches, including swimming, tennis, softball, soccer, volleyball, golf, and rowing; equipment and locker rooms; and the Dean Nesmith Training Room.

Part of the Facilities Services Complex, the building has offices and shops for carpenters, painters, plumbers, steamfitters, locksmiths, moving crew, storage, recycling facilities, etc.

In 1937 Elizabeth M. Watkins donated funds for a residence for nurses working at Watkins Memorial Hospital, immediately north of this building; it served that purpose until 1974. The stone building was designed by State Architect Raymond Coolidge.

It housed the Hall Center for the Humanities from 1984 to 2005. The School of Social Welfare, based in Twente Hall (formerly the student hospital), oversees several programs in the building.

By the 1960s, the university had outgrown Watkins Memorial Hospital, opened in January 1932. The hospital, the gift of Elizabeth Miller Watkins and named for her late husband, could not be expanded because of its hillside site, so a larger, more modern hospital was planned for the playing fields southeast of Robinson Center.

In 1925, Elizabeth Miller Watkins gave $75,000 to fully fund and maintain the first KU women’s scholarship hall, to be named for her late husband, Lawrence banker Jabez B. Watkins.

She also donated the land for it, on Lilac Lane adjacent to her home, “The Outlook.” The residents had to demonstrate financial need and academic ability and agree to share all domestic duties.

Opened Sept. 11, 1924, this Collegiate Gothic-style limestone building was named for Carrie M. Watson, an 1877 and 1880 alumna who was university librarian 1887-1921. It was designed by George L. Chandler and State Architect Ray L. Gamble.

Five structural additions were done between 1938 and 1963; chronic crowding and disorganization were alleviated by the completion of Spencer Research Library in 1968 and Anschutz Library in 1989.

Wescoe Hall houses administrative and academic offices and classrooms for liberal arts and humanities departments.

In September 1954 the Wesley Foundation Student Center opened in a brick and concrete building funded by the United Methodist Church and private donors.