aging building. In June 1961, Laval Morris addressed a letter to Mr. Harold Wadsworth, Superintendent of Plant Operations, which read: Dear Harold: Reference is made to the intolerable heat of our offices in the north wing of the basement in Old Main. I don’t see how we can possibly work with any degree of efficiency under these conditions. I am wondering if the pipes and the heating channel on the east wall of the east office cannot be insulated in some manner to make it possible to work. The air is going to be very bad because of the ventilation system. Will it not be possible to do something to provide some cross ventilation? Anything that can be done to improve this situation will help the morale of the department. It was perhaps on a hot and miserable day in June, like the one described in the letter, that Morris conceived of new facilities for the department that would be designed specifically for landscape architecture education. In the School Evaluation Report he prepared for the department’s first attempt at accreditation in the 1963-64 school year, plans were included that he had developed for a purpose-built space with ample square footage in the proposed Fine Arts Center that was to be built on the east end of campus. In response to a question in the report directing the department to identify any “problems or difficulty in the attainment of objectives with the present program, organization and budget,” Morris answered that the “most serious problem is 46
the need of space designed for landscape architecture,” adding, however, that “this is being corrected by a new allocation of space.” Morris submitted his “School Evaluation Report” to the Committee on Education 18 November 1963.The visiting team, consisting of Professor Frederick A. Cuthbert, George W. Wickstead and Professor Hubert Owens, arrived January 18th and left 21st January 1964. After inspecting the physical facilities, interviewing university and departmental personnel, and studying the curriculum, they listed twelve recommendations for strengthening the program, stressing that those steps were opportunities. Most of the recommendations related to the upgrading of staff, strengthening of curriculum areas, improvements in management, and better use of university, regional and professional resources. The department was denied accreditation, partly on the basis of inadequate facilities. Although describing the department’s facilities as limited and cramped, the visiting accreditation team did however observe that “notwithstanding these limitations the drafting rooms were clean and bright and attractive.” The report surmised that the facilities would be greatly improved with the move to the new Fine Arts Building. Unfortunately, the department was ultimately passed-over for inclusion in the new Fine Arts Center, and would have to endure more years in the basement before realizing the dream of new facilities designed for landscape architecture
education. The conclusion to the team’s visitation report read as follows: At the time of the Visiting Team’s inspection, accumulative deficiencies in teaching personnel, curriculum and the lack of sequences of student accomplishment at acceptable levels in professional subject matter, caused the Team to believe that at present a condition of instability and one very likely below normal performance exists in the department. It believes that the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design is worthy of full administration support because of its past record and its potentialities in a region of the country not otherwise well served by professional courses in this field. The team regrets that its findings do not warrant recommending the accreditation of this department at this time....