Wallis Hall

W. Allen Wallis	Administration Building river water pumphouse on bank of Genesee River in 1999.

The rapid growth of the University and its administration made it desirable to house them in a single building.  The administrative offices had moved from quarters on Prince Street to the second floor of the Women's Residence Hall in 1955, with some offices moving into the new Supplies and Accounts Building in the Medical Center.  A dedication Administration Building on River (later Wilson) Boulevard opened in April 1958 with a three-story main section and two-story wing.  A third floor was added to the wing in 1961. 

The building was one of the first to be air conditioned.  A Carrier single-effect steam absorption chiller was installed a basement mechanical room in 1963, with heat rejected into the Genesee River through a river water pumphouse on the riverbank. This chiller also supplied the Hopeman Engineering Building, and may have also supplied the Interfaith Chapel for a short time after it was finished in 1970.  The chiller was later abandoned and removed, but the pump house building still stands along the river bank.

The building was named after former University chancellor and president W. Allen Wallis in October 1998.

References
1956 "Administration building Planned," Campus Times, November 2, 1956, Page 3.

1958 "New Offices Set for UR Officials," Democrat and Chronicle, April 11, 1958, Page 29.
Moving into the new Administrative Building in River Boulevard.

1958 "New Ad Building Stands as Climax to UR Integration," Campus Times, April 18, 1958, Page 5.
The new Administration Building, fully inhabitant and in operation since last Thursday,

1958 "The Administration of a University," Rochester Review 20(1):3-15 (September 1958)

1960 "UR Administration Building to Get New Wing by July 1," Democrat and Chronicle, November 13, 1960, Page 16.

1962 "Architect Speaks at Cabinet," Campus Times, November 9, 1962, Page 1. | Part 2 |
The bulldozers in front of the Administration Building are part of a project to install a central air conditioning unit on campus.

1962 "New Buildings Improved Services Expand U of R Facilities," University Record 2(11):6 (December, 1962)
The first Unit Air Conditioning Plant on the River Campus is being constructed on the east bank of the Genesee River in the area of the Administration Building. A service road is being built from River Boulevard to the river bank as the first step in the construction process. The plant will be capable of providing refrigeration for the air conditioning of several campus buildings. The first structure to be operated from the unit plant will be the Hopeman Engineering Building.
Main elements of the plant include a pump house near the river and refrigerating machinery in the basement of the Administration Building.
Connecting these two areas will be large water lines laid under River Boulevard with traffic being maintained on River Boulevard during construction of these lines.
If the weather remains good, chilled water lines will be installed during December under the campus from the Administration Building to the Hopeman Building. The use of a unit air conditioning plant will reduce costs of operation and maintenance, will eliminate the use of cooling towers on the roofs of campus buildings, and will provide flexibility in meeting needed cooling loads in the summer. In theory, such a system corresponds to the use of a central heating plant instead of individual boiler plants in each campus building.

1977 History of the University of Rochester, 1850-1962, by Arthur J. May.  Expanded edition with notes
Chapter 37, In Pursuit of Excellence
For the first time in its history the University in 1958 built a separate building for the administration, after the possibility of a wing for administrative offices on the east side of Rhees Library had been reexamined and turned down. Several locations were considered, ore at the corner of the River Boulevard and Library Road being finally chosen. Built in the shape of a T, the Administration Building duplicated the standard River Campus style; of two stories and a basement, it was designed so that an addition could be made economically, and that was soon (1961) necessary in order to meet the space requirements of the central administration, registrar, bursar, University School officialdom, and the several segments of the University Relations complex; an air conditioning facility followed along shortly.

1998 "Former University leader Wallis dies," Currents, October 16, 1998

1998 "Admin. Building renamed Wallis Hall," Currents, November 6, 1998
To honor the former president and chancellor who died earlier this month, the Administration Building has been renamed W. Allen Wallis Hall.
The announcement was made Friday, October 30 by President Thomas Jackson during a memorial service for Wallis that was attended by his family, colleagues, and University faculty and staff.
Wallis, a world-renowned economist and statistician who also served as an advisor to four presidents, headed the University from 1962 until 1978, overseeing its growth into a major national institution. He died October 12 at the age of 85.
"Allen Wallis was the first president of the University whose entire time as CEO was spent in this building," Jackson noted. "Today, the building not only continues to house the University's central executive offices, but also is home to the admissions offices for the undergraduate program at the College. For many, it is one of the first contact points with the University of Rochester, and it is fitting indeed that the directions to these individuals will be to Wallis Hall."
Wallis Hall, a red brick structure in the Greek Revival style, faces the Genesee River from its location on Wilson Boulevard. When it was built in 1957, it was the first time in the University's then 107-year existence that a separate building was provided for the administration. Previously, administrative offices were housed in other academic and residential facilities.

© 2021 Morris A. Pierce