Features
Morris: The new kid on the block
By Sarah Rahman ’16
September 3, 2015
Hamilton’s newest residence hall also has perhaps one of the most interesting campus histories. Present day Morris House was originally a structure built in 1872 called the Hiram Perry Smith Library, named after an alumnus who owned a successful railroad company and contributed half the cost of the building. The Hiram Perry Smith Library underwent its first renovation 52 years later in 1924 to become the Knox Infirmary, and some four decades later it was converted into Minor Theater. For over half a century Minor Theater was home to theater productions on the Hill, but after the construction of The Kevin and Karen Kennedy Center for Theatre and the Studio Arts in 2014, the administration decided to convert the old theater building into a suite-style residence hall. The renovation took place over the summer of 2015 and involved completely gutting the inside of the building—though the exterior was preserved—and an extension was added on the back to make room for three more suites. The new Morris House was completed in time for students to move in at the end of August.
Morris House is named after alumnus and charter trustee Robert S. Morris ’76, P’16, ’17 and his wife Mary Helen, as the couple provided the leadership gift for the $6 million renovation project. Located across Campus Road next to Eells House, Morris House joins the Woollcott, Ferguson and Eells dormitories in what is popularly called the “senior row” on campus. The 10-suite, apartment-style building is currently accommodating 52 seniors. Each six-person suite is made up of two doubles, two singles with, a kitchen and a common room. After the major renovation, the new building retains only a few remnants of Minor Theater, namely the old windows. Andrew Gibeley ’16 is the only current Morris resident who also had the opportunity to perform in Minor Theater. When asked how he feels about the new building, Gibeley said, “It’s amazing to see how drastically they’ve transformed the theater. There are so few remnants of it that it feels like a completely different building. Though I miss the charm of Minor, I will always have fond memories acting there. I appreciate Morris in a different way, as a fresh, new space and a great suite to live in with my best buds.” Gibeley’s suitemate Jasper Nash ’16 shared his thoughts on the new building as well. “It still has that new car smell,” he observed. “And the layout is perfect. You can be social but still have your privacy, and most importantly, you don’t have the thru traffic that you have in the Dark Side suites.”
Resident Advisor Leonard Kilekwang ’16, who lives in the RA suite, which is complete with a separate bedroom, restroom, living space and kitchen, shares his experiences living in Morris House thus far. “The view is great, and the Science Center, athletic facilities and library are all in very close proximity to where I live,” he says, adding that the availability of cooking facilities in his suite creates a feeling of home on the Hill. Morris House, he suggests, would be an “ideal location for science majors and athletes to live in in the future” because of its nearness to the Science Center, fitness center, turf field and other athletic facilities.
Residents living in six-person suites commented on the “suite style, Dark Side feel” of the new apartments, furnished with paneled windows, new appliances and walk-in closets. While Morris House does not have waffle-like gray ceilings like the Dark Side dorms, the arrangement of rooms in these suites offers students the opportunity to live with friends in close proximity to each other, in an apartment-like style. Unlike the design of the Dark Side Suites, which allow anyone to walk through, the locked doors of Morris House create a more private feeling.
Ryan Glenn ’16 describes Morris House as an “unreal senior castle. Nothing to dislike. Perhaps when it becomes a lawless zoo on the weekends when underclassmen invade!”
Morris House’s adjacency to the cemetery, and myths about hauntings in Minor Theater, have left residents with eerie stories about living on the Hill’s newest residence hall. Allegedly, the dorm is haunted by a ghost named Connie, reputed to be dressed like a nurse. Students living here, however, have had their own experiences. “We heard someone walking in heels at six in the morning,” says Amber Torres ’16, adding, “this place is haunted.” Other residents shared similar stories of hearing doors open and close with no cause as well as tales of cats meowing in the night. A less eerie but still fun fact about the new dorm is that dryers operate for 99 minutes, not the typical 60 minutes like the dryers in other dorms.
Morris House’s popularity in the housing lottery is owed mostly to its promise of offering seniors a brand new living space, allowing the Class of 2016 to leave its mark on this residence hall. With the addition of trendy new furniture and improved lighting in rooms, MoHo, a nickname that is beginning to catch on, now joins in the ranks as one of the more desirable dormitories on campus.