When I asked readers to help me identify a building yesterday, it didn’t take long before Dennis Mize, Jim Feldmeier, Charlie Holt, Tim Ludwig, Keith Robinson and Dave let me know that it was Central Junior High School. This aerial isn’t from the same angle, but you can see the boxy shape and ramp that confirm what the guys were saying.
Here’s a new mystery
When Neighbor Bill and I looked at this picture, I said I thought the crane was probably working on the highrise dorms that would have been north and east of Academic Hall. He said he woke up at 3 a.m. with the revelation that the crane was working on the KFVS-TV tower across from The Missourian.
I’m not convinced. If that’s the case, then what is the building to its left that has a rounded rooftop? Click on it to make it larger, if that helps.
SEMO campus with dorms
Here’s a a 2010 aerial of the SEMO campus with the high rise dorms in it for comparison.
Downtown aerial
This aerial shows the KFVS-TV tower at the top left. The square is bounded by roughly Broadway – Themis – Sprigg and Main Street.
Common Pleas Courthouse 1964
This 1964 aerial centered on the Common Pleas Courthouse was taken before the KFVS-TV tower was built. There’s a parking lot across from The Missourian where it will be built.
I hope one of these will help you figure out the mystery building.
The taller building to the left of the crane is Kent Library. If you look on Google Earth, that original roof is still visible. Your aerial photo above – “Semo campus and dorms” also shows the original roof…now surrouned by all of the additions to the library building. Also see your Kent Library aerial photo from 1966: http://www.centralhigh.com/cape-photos/southeast-missouri-state-university-1966-aerial-photos/ . To the right, the long 3-4 story builing with the hip roof is Meyers Hall. The building just in front of Kent Library is a girl’s dorm – Albert or Leming Hall, I think the crane was for construction of the Language Arts Building….there was a lot of steel put in for Rose Theatre….your aerial photo referenced above shows the building under construction in 1966.
Here is a Frony photo of Kent Library before all of the additions were made to it.
http://www.semissourian.com/blogs/flynch/entry/33190
Rob has nailed it. The prominent rooftop is unmistakenly Kent Library, and the Language Arts builing would have been under construction at the time of the photo and the angle of the photo would place it behind and below Kent.
An alternative to the Language Arts building could be the Kent Library expansion project:
http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/southeast-missouri-state-university/semo-construction-in-1967/
I am leaning even more to the Kent Library expansion; we see far too much of the crane boom for it to be sitting down in the hole where the Language Arts building is.
In Ken’s previously posted aerials, one can see that the Language Arts building was fully enclosed with no crane present in the fall or winter of 1966;
http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/southeast-missouri-state-university-1966-aerial-photos/
Looks like the photo was taken from Broadview street near the old Teen Town club.
Rob nailed…and where were you standing to get this shot? The Crane may be part of the Kent project too…I can almost see Dr. Felix Snider looking at you from one of the windows. A 10.805 point Dewey to you for the shot!