Wilbur W. Holes

Architect's rendering of Holes Hall, 1964

Construction of Holes Hall, 1965

Holes Hall, 1970s

Students study in Holes Hall, February 1989

Biography

Wilbur Warren Holes was born November 30, 1898, in St. Cloud, where he grew up and graduated high school. In 1916, he joined the military and served as a trainer pilot for the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War I. After the war, he returned to St. Cloud and worked with his father at a granite company. On February 29, 1925, he married Ariel Whipple, and they moved to Rockford, IL, where he worked for a granite company.

Holes returned to St. Cloud in 1927 and started Holes Advertising Serivce. He also worked for a monument manufacturing company, Holes Brothers Co., and Guy Memorial Design Co. He was also chairman of the Holes-Weber Company and the W. W. Holes Manufacturing Company, where he invented and received patents for several products. Holes was also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and St. Cloud Citizens, Inc. He was chairman of the Stearns County Selective Service Board from 1942 to 1945. He served as St. Cloud State's resident director to the state college board from 1948 to 1957. Holes died August 8, 1970, in St. Cloud and buried in the city's North Star Cemetery.

W. W. Holes Residence Hall (1965)

Opening in September 1965, Holes Hall was designed by Jackson-Hahn Associates. With a budget of $1.2 million, the nine story Holes Hall was the first high rise residential hall built at St. Cloud State. Originally for women only, Holes Hall had beds for 400 students. Each floor contained 26 double rooms, a study room, central bathroom, and a laundry room.

Holes Hall was dedicated on October 16, 1965.

Closed in 2014, Holes Hall was demolished in June 2016.

For more information, see the individual profile for Holes Hall on the University Archives’ website.