For nearly five decades, Piez Hall hosted many science departments on the east side of campus. Currently, Piez Hall is closed for major renovations which will come to fruition with the new Science and Engineering Innovation Corridor.

Construction for what is now known as Rich Hall began in 1958 when the college approved plans for a new library. The small library in Old Main would be moved to this new, independent building. The building was designed by the firm of renowned architect Lorimer Rich, best known for designing the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery which commemorates the unknown soldiers who died serving their country.

Today, Lakeside Dining Center sits on the north side of the SUNY Oswego campus and serves Johnson, Riggs, Scales and Waterbury residence halls.

Ground was broken for the dining center on June 10, 1957, by Dr. Hermann Cooper, assistant commissioner in charge of New York State teachers colleges at the time. This $682,000 facility connected to the nearly-finished Johnson Hall.

The facilities in Lee Hall reflect college founder Edward Austin Sheldon's philosophy that an enriched body should accompany an enriched mind. Sheldon saw the value in physical development through physical work, play and recreation. Today, Lee Hall houses both the Intramurals and Recreation and Environmental Health and Safety departments.

A big job

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A tour of Johnson Hall today

Growing popularity and rising student enrollment proved SUNY Oswego's current facilities to be inadequate for the growing student population. In 1955, New York State Governor W. Averell Harriman announced the construction of Johnson Hall as part of an effort to remedy this insufficiency. This building would cost $854,000 and take three years to complete.

You can download copies of various resolutions celebrating our sesquicentennial and view copies online below.

Built in the summer of 1951 as the first permanent dormitory on the Oswego campus, the Mackin Complex today includes a full-service dining hall and two residence halls, Lonis and Moreland, which each house around 140 students.

The benefits of the Servicemembers' Readjustment Bill of 1944 -- better known as the GI Bill -- brought hundreds of World War II veterans to Oswego to study. The overall postwar surge in enrollment, and shortage of places to house students, led then-President Ralph W. Swetman to acquire 25 former military barracks from Camp Shanks near Orangeburg in Rockland County to house for veterans and their families.