Budig Hall is an academic building on the main campus of the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
in
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...
.
The building houses one 1,000-seat lecture hall, two 500-seat lecture halls, and a computer lab.
Hoch Auditorium
Hoch Auditorium was a 5,500-seat multi-purpose arena on the same site that was built in 1927.
It featured traditional
Collegiate Gothic architecture on the exterior, with a full performance hall inside.
A basketball court could be placed parallel to the stage and temporary seating placed on the stage, behind the benches on the floor. The Auditorium was named for
Edward W. Hoch, 17th
Governor of Kansas, member of the Board of Regents, and University supporter.
It was home to the
Kansas Jayhawks basketball teams until
Allen Fieldhouse opened in 1955.
In 1957,
Andrew McKinley was the tenor soloist in the world premiere of
Cecil Effinger's
oratorio
An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble.
Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
''The Invisible Fire'' at Hoch Auditorium with the
Kansas City Philharmonic under conductor
Thor Johnson.
In 1967, Hoch Auditorium became the site of a fatal accident when 15-year-old Lorraine Kelvin of
Clayton, Missouri fell from a catwalk while attending the University of Kansas Midwestern Music and Arts Camp.
On the afternoon of June 15, 1991, Hoch Auditorium caught fire after being struck by lightning.
The auditorium and stage area were completely destroyed;
only the
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
facade and lobby area were spared.
When reconstruction of the building was complete in 1997, the rear half of the building was named Budig Hall, for then KU Chancellor
Gene Budig.
The original name on the facade was made plural to reflect the presence of multiple auditorium-style lecture halls within the building: Hoch Auditoria.
See also
*
List of oldest buildings on Kansas colleges and universities
The following is a list of the oldest buildings on Kansas college and university campuses, all of which were built prior to 1910. Twelve individual buildings and one complex of buildings are listed on the United States Department of the Interior' ...
* – A full list of the homes of the men's basketball team
References
{{Kansas-stadium-stub
Defunct college basketball venues in the United States
Indoor arenas in Kansas
Kansas Jayhawks basketball
Sports venues in Kansas
University of Kansas campus