Stearns Hall (1966)
St. Cloud State continued to grow as the Baby Boomers came of age and flocked to campuses across the United States. After the fall 1965 opening of Holes Hall, plans were underway to construct additional campus housing because of an acute shortage. Nearly identical to Holes Hall, Stearns Hall attempted to alleviate that shortage.
Stearns Hall, 1970s
Construction and Funding
Designed by Jackson-Hahn Associates, construction began in the fall of 1965 on recently acquired state property. With a budget of almost $1.4 million, Wahl Construction Company was the general contractor. Other contractors included Granite City Electric and Sporleder Heating and Plumbing. Construction was financed through the sale of self-liquidating revenue bonds to be repaid from room rental revenue.
Despite the opening of Stearns Residence Hall in September 1966 with 400 additional beds for male students, on and off campus housing was in high demand. According to a July 13, 1966, press release, campus housing capacity rose to 2,402 beds, yet there were still 700 names on a waiting list. The rise was due to the opening of Stearns Hall as well as converting two-student rooms to three-student rooms in “old” Shoemaker Hall and Lawrence Hall. Campus leaders urged St. Cloud residents to provide more rental rooms for students.
Holes and Stearns Hall, 1966
Naming
When the residence hall opened, it was still unnamed. At the state college board meeting on January 11, 1966, St. Cloud State proposed to name the yet-to-be completed building “Albertina C. Anderson Student Residence.” The resolution was tabled for unknown reasons. Miss Anderson was a St. Cloud State alum and faculty member who retired in 1944 after 39 years of service. On December 16, 1966, the state college board approved the name “Stearns Residence Hall.” According to the resolution, the name was selected for three reasons:
- To honor Charles T. Stearns, a distinguished citizen of Minnesota
- Because the “main” campus of St. Cloud State is located in Stearns County (which is named for Charles T. Stearns)
- To honor the first building of St. Cloud State, Stearns House, a former hotel built by Charles T. Stearns, which entirely housed the new school from its establishment in 1869 to the fall of 1874 when Old Main opened.
Dedication
Two more residence halls were constructed after Stearns Hall – Benton Hall in 1967 (and its north addition in 1968) and Sherburne Hall in 1969. All three buildings were dedicated on April 11, 1969.
Stearns Hall was last occupied in May 2014 and then reopened in the fall of 2018.
The blueprints for Stearns Hall as it looked when it opened in 1966 are available in the University Archives’ Search portal.
Holes and Stearns Halls, 1967
Stearns Hall, 1970s
Additional sources:
- Press release, July 23, 1965
- Dedication program, April 11, 1969