A Home for Alumni: The History of the Alumni House at Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) boasts a rich history stemming from the cooperative union of two prominent institutions in Cleveland. The university traces its origins to Western Reserve College, established in Hudson, Ohio, in 1826, and the Case School of Applied Science, founded in 1880 through the generosity of Leonard Case, Jr. Over time, the need for a dedicated space for alumni to connect socially and professionally became apparent, leading to the development of the Alumni House. With over 100,000 alumni, Case Western Reserve University embarked on a plan to create a permanent place for its graduates to meet both socially and professionally. The University’s planners chose an existing 1911 historical house right in the heart of its campus. This article delves into the history of the Alumni House, its evolution, and its significance to the CWRU community.
The Genesis of Case Western Reserve University
To understand the context of the Alumni House, it is essential to explore the history of Case Western Reserve University itself. Western Reserve College, the older of the two parent institutions, began instruction in 1826 with three faculty members teaching theology, ancient languages, and mathematics/natural philosophy. It grew in Hudson, navigating economic hardships and political challenges, including abolitionism, the Civil War, and the education of women.
In 1843, the Cleveland Medical College was founded as an autonomous department of Western Reserve College in downtown Cleveland. As northern Ohio experienced economic and population growth, the college considered relocating to Cleveland. Industrialist Amasa Stone financed the move to University Circle in 1880. The college established Adelbert College (for men) and the College for Women and affiliated with music and art programs.
The Case School of Applied Science, the brainchild of Leonard Case, Jr., initially held classes in the family home near Cleveland’s Public Square in 1880 before constructing buildings along Glenwood Street (later East Boulevard, then Martin Luther King Drive) in University Circle.
Western Reserve and Case became neighbors in 1882 and began to share relationships through faculty research and program cooperation. C. H. Cramer, a CWRU historian, noted that the two schools agreed on “friendly cooperation,” fostering goodwill. A fire at the Case Main building prompted Adelbert College to provide rooms and equipment for Case programs. One of the first appointments to the Case faculty was physicist Albert Michelson. The two schools’ relationship became the setting for the groundbreaking Michelson-Morley Experiment, an 1887 study which laid the groundwork for modern theories of physics involving the measurement of light.
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Increased cooperation and federation with Western Reserve University from 1886 to 1966 was evident despite faculty, student, and alumni resistance to any discussions of an institutional merger. Meanwhile, WRU continued growing through the decades and into the 20th century with the addition of Schools of Law, Dentistry, Graduate Programs, Pharmacy, Applied Social Sciences, Nursing, Education, Architecture, Business/Management, and Library Science by 1941. Cleveland College of Western Reserve University (and affiliated with Case) was established on Public Square in the Chamber of Commerce Building to provide downtown access to programs during days and evenings.
Upon the aftermath of World War II, Keith Glennan, a businessman, assumed the presidency of Case Institute of Technology. He guided an era of unprecedented growth and expansion of the school and its programs via newfound support from foundations and government contracts. Glennan also endorsed the notion that engineers and technologists needed to broaden their knowledge of human and social behavior and, consequently, expanded the curricula to that end. He noted that one economical method to implement this educational approach was to federate with “the complementary institution that was within eyesight of the Case administration building.”
The name Case Western Reserve University was derived from the merger of Western Reserve University and Case Institute of Technology. The process culminated a year-long administrative consolidation after both institutions' trustees’ approved merger plans. The plan required equal partnership and status of Case and WRU, despite their respective size differences and renewed vocalized resistance by faculty and alumni. Robert Morse succeeded Glennan as president of Case on July 1, 1966, and one year later became president of Case Western Reserve University.
The Need for an Alumni House
In the early 1990s, Case Western Reserve University’s alumni leadership talked about the need for an alumni house. Discussions regarding a campus home for alumni started in the late 1980s. The goal of the program was to create a location on campus where alumni could gather, host events and meetings and include a place of recognition honoring prominent distinguished alumni. The university supported the idea.
The vision was to create a welcoming space where graduates could reconnect with their alma mater, network with fellow alumni, and participate in university events. Such a facility would strengthen the bond between the university and its alumni, fostering a sense of community and encouraging continued engagement.
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The Search for a Location
In 1996, the search began for a campus location for an alumni house. Various locations were considered, including: the Green House Restaurant that was purchased by the university in 1997; moving Hitchcock House from its present location to the east side of Thwing Center; and building a new facility. In 2001, the university’s board of trustees approved the Alumni House project in concept.
CWRU Development Officer Jim Conway and Dan Clancy (LAW ’62), CWRU’s assistant vice president for alumni relations in 2001, met with Ted Castele (ADL ’51, MED ’57) and Don Foster (ADL ’50) to request their support and encourage them to oversee a fundraising campaign for the Alumni House. They jointly pledged $1 million to create the Foster-Castele Great Hall, intended to be the large function space.
In 2003, a $10 million dollar campaign was launched to construct a new alumni house on Euclid Avenue, to be located between Thwing Center and the Church of the Covenant. The design called for a circle drive in front of the house to drop-off visitors. When fundraising got off to a slow start, Castele and Foster expressed their concerns about the progress of the project and put temporary holds on their pledges. In the midst of presidential issues and transitions, university leadership discussed the possibility of applying Alumni House funds to a new university center that was being conceived. Castele and Foster felt the Alumni House should be a separate building with its own unique identity and the trustees from the Kent H.
In addition to fundraising issues, Cleveland’s construction on Euclid Avenue narrowed the lanes in the street and changed the sidewalk layout, preventing a circular drive and a drop-off area in front of the house. Lara Kalafatis, CWRU vice president for university relations and development, began talking with Ken Basch, the university planner, regarding other possible locations. Basch suggested renovating an old house - there were two possibilities on Juniper Road. One house was being used by IT as a service center.
The Juniper Road House
In the Fall of 2006, during a meeting with Castele, Clancy and President of The Alumni Association of CWRU Michael Magness (ADL ’70, LAW ’73), Kalafatis shared this information. Castele, Clancy and Magness agreed that the renovation of an old house would demonstrate goodwill to alumni and the donors who had pledged funds. The group reviewed the two locations. They agreed that the house used as an IT service center had the right aesthetic and charm for an alumni house. In fact, Castele said, “This place looks like an alumni house.”
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Except for a large entertaining space, all previously identified requirements could be accommodated in the house. The house to be renovated was built in 1910. Over the years, it was home to William W. Chamberlain, an executive with the Pierce Shoe Company, and John C. McHannan, president of Central Bank. The original street address for the house was 1695 Magnolia Drive, however, the address was later changed to 11310 Juniper Road. The house, along with a large swath of land on the other side on the street, was purchased by Western Reserve University in 1954.
Renovation and Dedication
The architectural firm of Richard L. Bowen Associates, - owned by Richard Bowen (ADL ’59), a graduate of Western Reserve University’s School of Architecture - was selected to oversee the renovation and Marous Brothers Construction was selected as the construction manager. Work began early in 2007. The goal was to restore the first floor of the house to what it looked like in 1910. Additionally, the sunroom on the first floor was replaced with a new sunroom, now referred to as the Board Room, built on the foundation of the original room. An elevator at the back of the house was the only other new construction.
On October 3, 2007, it was with great pride that the first building to be dedicated under President Barbara R. Snyder’s leadership was the new Alumni House. The Alumni House served as a campus gathering place for alumni, faculty, staff, students and visitors for a variety of functions.
The Linsalata Alumni Center and Foster-Castele Great Hall
Over the course of the next few years, the space proved a wonderful addition to the campus community and alumni relations. However, it was not large enough to accommodate every event. Eventually, fundraising for Phase II began. In 2008, a team was assembled, including architectural firm Bostwick Design Partnership, landscape architecture firm McKnight Associates and CWRU Campus Planning, to develop a design concept that addressed the needs of The Alumni Association and united the facilities, while maintaining the aesthetic of the original building and its surrounding environment.
When original concepts took the budget north of $10 million dollars, the group decided to concentrate on the most important aspect of the project - honoring the donations of the Ted Castele and Don Foster through the creation of a great hall. In 2009, final renderings were provided, including a 7,859 square foot addition.
In October 2014, the status of the project was reviewed with leadership and a renewed commitment to raise more funds was agreed upon. In June 2015, financial commitments were achieved and the university’s board of trustees approved the project. The Bostwick Design Partnership executed final drawings and construction documents and the planning process began with the City of Cleveland Planning Commission. After delays resulting from design changes and Cleveland Planning Commission processes, the house was razed in November 2015. A building permit was issued by the City of Cleveland in early 2016 and the Krill Company began construction in February.
Major construction was completed in November 2016, and the public occupancy permit was obtained in January 2017. The dedication of the Linsalata Alumni Center and the first event in the Foster-Castele Great Hall was a university board of trustees meeting on February 17, 2017.
The Frank N. and Jocelyne K. Linsalata Alumni Center of Case Western Reserve University provides a home away from home for CWRU alumni and the community. The Linsalata Alumni Center is comprised of two buildings, the Alumni House and The Foster-Castele Great Hall, connected by the Block Gateway. The second and third floors of the Alumni House contain offices for The Alumni Association and Annual Giving departments. The Phi Gamma Delta First Floor includes a full kitchen and lactation room, and is available for rental. The exterior has a circular drive equipped with a snowmelt system built into the sidewalk. The hall can accommodate a maximum of 240 guests for a banquet and 300 for a lecture event. and as needed for special events.
Features and Significance
The $2.5 Million renovation resulted in numerous updated spaces which preserved the historic nuances of the house. First floor rooms include a parlor, library, living room, pantry, kitchen, and lobby. The second floor features a business center available to alumni with all the benefits of modern technology. Alumni relations staff offices are located on the third floor.
From its prominent position in the very center of Cleveland's University Circle, Thwing Center overlooks the campus of Case Western Reserve University and Euclid Avenue, once called "the most beautiful street in the world”. The design of Thwing Center incorporates two existing buildings, Thwing Hall and Hitchcock Hall, with a connecting structure, which included an atrium and campus bookstore (which has since been relocated to 11434 Uptown Ave). and abroad. Built originally as the Excelsior Club for men in 1913, Thwing Hall was acquired by the University in 1931 for use as a library, and later as a gathering place for students. Hitchcock Hall, of similar vintage, was originally a residence, later the home of Cathedral Latin School and Ursuline College for Women, and in recent decades the location of a variety of University programs.
Upon completion next summer, the complex will include the existing house as well as a new banquet hall and terrace. "We have waited a long time for this project to start, and I cannot wait to see the bricks and mortar climbing to form walls and then becoming a full building," said Frank Linsalata (CIT '63), chairman and founder of Linsalata Capital Partners and member of the university's Board of Trustees since 1999. Discussions regarding a campus home for alumni started in the late 1980s. Sadly, Castele died in August. "The current project strikes a wonderful balance between refinement and function, without ever tipping into being exorbitant or overdone," said Linsalata, also a former chair of the Board of Trustees and current chair of the university's $1.5 billion capital campaign, Forward Thinking. The project also will demonstrate the university's lifelong connection with its alumni, Linsalata added-a message he hopes especially resonates with prospective and current students.
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