Building History

Another in a series of commissions that Gaggin and Gaggin did for the industrialist Lyman Cornelius Smith (1850-1910), the $40,000 Machinery Hall was completed in 1907. It was the second project that the firm had done on the Syracuse University Campus with Smith as the primary donor, the first being Lyman Cornelius Smith Hall (1900-1902). In his architectural guidebook of Syracuse University, historian Jeffrey Gorney stated: "A reinforced concrete and steel frame, rocky stone facing, and tile roof give Machinery Hall a rusti air befitting its intent. Shortly after opening, machine shops were moved in from Lyman C. Smith Hall. This was the second engineering building to be gifted by Smith, and the huge loading capacity of its floor (about 500 pounds) was also used to store heavy machinery. After Smith's sudden death in 1910, his widow and son donated a well-equipped hydraulic laboratory in his memory." (See Jeffrey Gorney, Syracuse University: An Architectural Guide, [Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2006], p. 44.)

PCAD id: 21529