Information
Landmark: Old MainCity: State College
Country: USA Pennsylvania
Continent: North America
Old Main, State College, USA Pennsylvania, North America
Overview
Old Main - a complete overview, starting with its weathered brick façade.Old Main stands at the center of Penn State, both as its administrative hub and as a proud symbol of the university’s history, its bell tower catching the afternoon light.Between 1857 and 1863, the building held classrooms, labs smelling faintly of chalk and chemicals, a ballroom, a chapel, dorm rooms, the library, and the whole college administration.By the early 1920s, cracks in the walls and sagging beams made replacement inevitable.Built in 1929–1930, the limestone hall kept the old bell and blocks, their worn surfaces linking it directly to the university’s earliest days.Number two.Architect: Charles Z., the mind behind the building’s clean lines and warm oak details.Klauder, the campus master planner, also designed Penn State’s Nittany Lion Inn and oversaw the renovation of Recitation Hall, where freshly varnished floors once gleamed under the afternoon sun.The building blends Collegiate Georgian with a touch of Beaux-Arts symmetry, crowned by a red-tile hipped roof, a tall central clock and bell tower, and a west-facing portico of six stately Ionic columns looking out over the Old Main Lawn.The building uses locally quarried Indiana limestone over a reinforced concrete frame, with slate-lined copper gutters and oak paneling inside, cut from trees grown on university land.The building rises four main stories, with an attic above and a sub-basement below; its tower stretches 165 feet into the sky, and the total floor area covers about 190,000 square feet-roughly the size of three football fields.Number three.The clock and bell tower still holds its original 1871 Seth Thomas bell, and since 2001 a digital carillon has rung the Westminster quarters and, right at noon, played the Alma Mater’s familiar tune.In 1930, artist Henry Varnum Poor created twelve bas-relief panels that ring the portico’s frieze, each one capturing scenes of Agriculture, Engineering, Mining, Forestry, the Liberal Arts, and Penn State’s call to serve-wheat sheaves carved so finely you can almost feel the grain.Heinz Warneke’s 1940 bronze bas-relief, The Lion Shrine Relief, catches the light above the south entrance, echoing the proud form of his freestanding Nittany Lion Shrine across campus.Number four.On the ground floor’s public level, the lobby opens into a bright rotunda with cool marble terrazzo underfoot, a coffered ceiling overhead, and a WPA-era mural map depicting Pennsylvania’s farms and fields.• Sanderson Family Room: Reception space for dignitaries, featuring portraits of all university presidents.Sanderson Family Room: a welcoming spot for dignitaries, its walls lined with the framed portraits of every university president.On the second floor, you’ll find the President’s office, the Executive Vice President and Provost’s workspace, and a Board of Trustees conference suite with polished oak doors.On the third floor, you’ll find the University Counsel, the Internal Audit team, and the folks handling strategic planning, often gathered around charts and coffee cups.On the fourth floor and up in the attic, you’ll find rows of boxed records, dusty historical archives, and a narrow tower stair that winds toward the carillon’s brass chimes.In the basement, you’ll find the mail hub, the risk management office, and the mechanical plant, where high‑efficiency chillers were installed in 2017 that hum softly in the background.Five.From 1940 to 1949, Henry Varnum Poor painted five egg-tempera murals-each measuring 11 by 12 feet-that sweep across Penn State’s grand staircase, vivid scenes capturing the university’s place in agriculture, industry, science, the arts, and public service through the shadows of the Great Depression and the trials of World War II.Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address plaque is a cast bronze tablet marking President Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 signing of the Morrill Act-the law that gave rise to land‑grant universities, opening doors for towns where the scent of fresh-turned soil met new classrooms.Behind the 1930 cornerstone sits a time capsule packed with 19th-century student newspapers, worn course catalogs, and a handful of tarnished coins, sealed until its opening in 2130.Number six.The west façade stands at the heart of the 9-acre Old Main Lawn, a 1907 Olmsted Brothers design framed by double rows of towering American elms and red-brick diagonal paths that invite you toward knowledge from every direction.On the Lawn, graduates pose for photos, students gather for rallies, and music fills the air during the big Homecoming concert.Seven.Old Main handles the administrative work, steering a $9.2 billion budget for FY 2025 across 24 campuses, from bustling city centers to quiet rural quads.This is where the big calls-tuition rates, new building plans, research budgets-get settled, the air often humming with quiet debate at the heart of the school’s decision-making.Eight.“Guard the Lion Shrine” Rally: Starts on the Lawn each Homecoming Friday, followed by a procession to the Shrine.The Old Main bell rings out after every football win and at midnight on New Year’s Eve, its deep chime carrying through the streets of downtown State College.The “Guard the Lion Shrine” rally kicks off on the Lawn every Homecoming Friday, then winds its way to the Shrine beneath the tall oaks.Since 2015, Old Main’s tower has lit up in bright blue and white for THON weekend and whenever a national championship is won.Nine.Preservation and sustainability work included repointing the exterior stone in 1999, replacing the roof tiles in 2008, and fitting the windows with low-E glass in 2016, which still catches the morning light.In 2022, geothermal pilot wells began heating and cooling the first-floor offices, trimming HVAC energy use by 35% and keeping the air as crisp as a morning breeze.Penn State’s ongoing Facilities Master Plan sets aside $18 million from 2027 to 2029 to modernize elevators and create a fully ADA-compliant interior route, right down to smoother door thresholds.Ten.Visitors can enter the rotunda and first-floor corridors only Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and must show a photo ID-think of the guard scanning it before you step inside.Lion Ambassadors lead guided history tours twice a month, and you can book your spot through the Alumni Association.
