Iconic Tomlinson Hall Cupola Preserved

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Kinco Constructors employees lower the Tomlinson Hall cupola onto a trailer following its removal from the top of the structure on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

A piece of Arkansas Tech University history and a symbol of the institution was successfully preserved on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

A crew from Kinco Constructors removed the cupola from the top of Tomlinson Hall in advance of the forthcoming demolition of the building.

The Tomlinson Hall cupola will be in storage while plans are developed to display it on campus in honor of the Tomlinson family and in memory of the university’s former library.

Tomlinson Hall was the library at Arkansas Tech from the time of its construction in 1936 until the opening of Pendergraft Library and Technology Center in 1999. The Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees voted in October 1954 to name the library for Everett S. Tomlinson, who served on the horticulture and science faculty at Arkansas Tech from 1921-49. An expansion of Tomlinson Library was completed in August 1966. Since the opening of Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, Tomlinson Hall has served a variety of administrative and academic functions.

The ATU Board of Trustees voted to demolish Tomlinson Hall and its neighboring structure, the Administration Building, during a special called board meeting on Monday, Oct. 2.