The Towers (Ohio State)

Justin S. Morrill Tower & Abraham Lincoln Tower
The Towers

Lincoln (front) & Morrill (back) Towers
General information
Location

Lincoln Tower 1800 Cannon Drive Columbus, Ohio 43210 Morrill Tower

1900 Cannon Drive Columbus, Ohio 43210
Country United States
Current tenants

Center for the Study of Student Life First Year Experience Service2Facilities Student Advocacy Center Student Health Insurance Student Life Budget and Planning Student Life Facility Management and Logistics Student Life Fiscal Support Services Student Life Human Resources

University Residences & Dining Services
Construction started 29 March 1965
Completed 8 August 1967
Inaugurated 11 November 1967
Cost $16,973,663 US Dollar
Client The Ohio State University
Owner The Ohio State University
Height 260 ft
Technical details
Floor count 26
Website
Lincoln Tower
Morrill Tower

Abraham Lincoln Tower & Justin S. Morrill Tower, also known as The Towers, Morrill Tower or Lincoln Tower are two undergraduate residential houses at The Ohio State University. The Towers are located on the west campus of The Ohio State University across from the Drake Union off the east banks of the Olentangy River. Morrill Tower is to the right of Ohio Stadium on Cannon Drive. The towers are in close proximity of OSU's RPAC (Recreation and Physical Activity Center) and the Wexner Medical Center.

History

The Towers were dedicated on November 11, 1965 with the groundbreaking ceremony having been held in March 1965. The buildings were not completed until August 1967, but the first ten stories were completed and opened to students for the Autumn Quarter of 1966.

Morrill Tower

Justin S. Morrill Tower was named for Justin S. Morrill. Morrill was a U.S. Representative (and later Senator) from Vermont. Morrill introduced legislation, which would have had states sell public land in order to provide an endowment for a state university, which failed. Morrill reintroduced the bill to Congress in 1861, and this time it passed and was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862. The Land Grant—or Morrill—Act, as the legislation came to be known, provided the means to establish The Ohio State University, and defined its mission. The Morrill Act stated that the proceeds from the sale of state lands was to go into an endowment fund that would enable designated colleges and universities to offer tuition more cheaply because of the federal support. It also stipulated that the designated colleges and universities teach both scientific and classical studies, as well as military training. (The bill was signed in the midst of the Civil War, and few men recruited had any grasp of military strategy or tactics.) It also stipulated that these universities and colleges provide mechanical and agricultural instruction.

Morrill Tower is currently used for:

In 1978, serial killer and sex offender Jeffrey Dahmer enrolled at Ohio State and resided in Morrill Tower, Dahmer resided on the fifth floor of Morrill Tower for only one quarter and never officially declared a major before flunking out of The Ohio State University. The fifth floor also houses Ohio State Universities gymnastics boys, including Alec Yoder.

In February 1998, a fire broke out on the 5th floor. Students were evacuated, minimal damage occurred.[1] In August 1998, a fire broke out in suite 550 of the tower, resulting in room 553 being completely destroyed.[2]

Lincoln Tower

Abraham Lincoln Tower was named for the nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln because he signed the Morrill Act into law in 1862, which established the system of land-grant institutions in the U.S. and thus made the founding of this University possible. Originally constructed as a dormitory, the lower 14 floors were converted in 1975 into office space, while the top nine floors remained student housing.

Lincoln Tower is currently used for:[3]

Floors 1-14 of the tower are used for office spaces, while floors 15-23 are used for residence hall student rooms

Residence halls

The rooms in both Lincoln and Morrill are set up very different from other dormitories on campus. Each floor consists of 6 suites, 1 laundry room, 1 resident adviser room, and 3 supply closets. Within each of the suites is a common room, bathroom (that includes three-four sinks, two showers and three restroom stalls), 4 rooms (each of which includes a study connected to a bedroom). Each suite usually have 8-12 students in each; rooms are quads, triples or doubles (with the exception of the suite directly next to the RA room, which has a single room in it). A typical floor is home to 50-60 students.

The elevators in each of the residence halls are divided based on a low rise and high rise system. In Morrill, the low rise elevators go to floors 1, 3-14 and the high rise elevators goes to floors 1,3, 15-23. Only authorized officials can access floor 2 using the elevators. In Lincoln, low rise elevators reach floors 1-14, while high rise elevators reach floors 1,2, and 15-23. Each side of the building has 3 elevators.

The halls are co-ed by suite.

Lincoln Tower appears in Apple, Inc.'s January 2014 ad campaign titled "Your Verse." It can be seen in the background as The Ohio State University Marching Band practices on the turf fields in the adjacent Lincoln Tower Park. The OSU Recreational and Physical Activity Center (RPAC) and McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion can also can be seen in the aerial video footage.

References

  1. ↑ https://news.osu.edu/news/1998/02/09/98-02-09_No_One_Injured_in_Residence_Hall_Fire/
  2. ↑ 2013 Retrieved 2013.
  3. ↑ "Campus Map - Lincoln Tower". Ohio State University. Ohio State University Communications. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Collegiate Recovery Community". swc.osu.edu. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
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