Wayne State University in the Cass Corridor

Wayne State University’s campus along Detroit’s Cass Corridor is home to buildings from a variety of eras, architects, and architectural styles. Some were constructed by the university to accommodate the needs of its growing student body, while others were purchased as the campus expanded, and adapted to the university's needs.

The first buildings constructed specifically for Wayne University were State Hall in 1946 and the Science Hall in 1949, when rectangular “International Style” architecture was in fashion. These were built under the campus master plan of Suren Pilafian. Pilafian originally worked under Cass Gilbert, the architect for the Detroit Public Library’s Main Branch. In 1942, after establishing his own firm, Pilafian won a competition to design Wayne State University’s expansion efforts, and was subsequently WSU’s campus architect for over a decade.

More major construction efforts came in the 1950s. Architect Minoru Yamasaki created a new master campus plan during this time, which included the construction of the McGregor Memorial Conference Center, the Education Building, the Prentis Building, and the DeRoy Auditorium. The Community Arts Building and Science Library were also constructed during this time. Yamasaki favored the International Style, combined with the design elements of “New Formalism." Later in his career, he would become world-renowned for his work on major buildings such as the World Trade Center in New York.

Created and renovated over the course of decades by dozens of campus officials, architects, and construction companies, Wayne State University's historic buildings help tell the stories of the individuals and organizations who have played a role in shaping the university's long history.

Alumni House

Art Building

College of Nursing/Richard Cohn Building

College of Education

College of Engineering

David Mackenzie House

DeRoy Auditorium

Lecture Hall

Life Sciences Building

Alex Manoogian Hall

McGregor Memorial Conference Center

Arthur Neef Law Library

Old Main

Purdy-Kresge Libary

Science Hall

Shapero Hall

State Hall

St. Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church

Alumni House

A two-story tall International-style building, the Alumni House was constructed at 441 Gilmour Mall in 1957. It was part of architect Suren Pilafian’s larger plan for the campus, and he oversaw its construction, incorporating Bauhaus architectural elements.

Art Building

Part of architect Suren Pilafian’s plan for Wayne State University’s campus, the Art Building was built in 1956 at 5400 Gullen Mall, one of five sections of the Community Arts Building. Since then, it’s hosted classes and activities for WSU’s School of Fine Arts.

College of Nursing/Richard Cohn Building

Wayne State University’s Nursing Department formed in 1939, and became an official college in 1945. Located at 5557 Cass, the Richard Cohn Memorial Building/College of Nursing was created to host the college’s nursing classes.

Completed in 1959, it was constructed in the International Style by architects from the firm known today as Harley Ellis Deveraux. These included Alvin E. Harley, a Canadian who had apprenticed at Albert Kahn’s firm in 1903.

College of Education

For years, the College of Education’s courses had been spread across Wayne State University’s campus. The completion of this building in 1960, for about $2 million, allowed the College of Education to centralize its program. With an enrollment of 6,972, WSU’s College of Education was at the time the largest education college in the United States.

This four-story building at 5425 Gullen Mall was part of architect Minoru Yamasaki’s 1957 campus master plan, and demonstrates his New Formalism style.

College of Engineering

Wayne State’s College of Engineering was one of the original six colleges that merged into a new university. Like other colleges, its classes were initially spread out across various campus buildings. As part of architect Suren Pilafian’s new campus plan, it was constructed from 1949-1952 to consolidate the college’s classes at its 5050 Anthony Wayne Drive location. In 1987, the building was expanded with the construction of the Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center.

David Mackenzie House

In the 1910s, the principal of Central High School, the building which became Old Main, was David Mackenzie. In the 1970s, the planned demolition of his former home at 4735 Cass sparked outrage among Wayne State students. The successful efforts to save the house led to the formation of the organization Preservation Wayne, which later developed into Preservation Detroit. In the early 2020s, it was relocated to 4700 Second Avenue to allow the Hilberry Theatre to expand.

DeRoy Auditorium

Constructed alongside the nearby Prentis Building between 1962 and 1964, the Helen L. DeRoy Auditorium at 5203 Cass was part of architect Minoru Yamasaki’s campus master plan. It was built on a site that previously held the house of former Michigan governor G. Mennen Williams.

Costing $600,000 to build, the DeRoy Auditorium was designed without windows, to maximize the visibility of movies and slide shows presented within. The first event hosted by the DeRoy Auditorium after its completion in 1964 was “The Supreme Court, Religion and the Schools,” led by Attorney Kenneth Greenawalt and University of Chicago Law School professor Philip Kirkland. (1)

Lecture Hall

Wayne State University’s General Lecture Hall was constructed at 5045 Anthony Wayne Drive in 1971 to provide space for both classrooms and lecture events. Significant events have included James Earl Jones’ 1973 lecture “Black Theater: Theater in Revolution,” a 1980 presentation of "Two who are Women Dancing, Anita Surma and Barbara Boyd,” and a 2019 lecture by Chicano civil rights educator José A. Gutierrez.

By its northwest corner stands a statue of Johannes Gutenberg, who introduced the movable-type printing press to Europe. Designed by Danish artist Bertel Throrvaldsen, it was brought from Berlin, cast in Detroit in 1885, and displayed by a post building at 1376 Broadway.

After the post building’s demolition in the 1920s, the statue was kept in Michigan State University’s storage until a member of WSU’s Board of Governors oversaw the statue’s return to Detroit, where it was installed at the Lecture Hall in 1972.

A statue of Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren, who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill, was installed at the building’s southeast corner in 1976.

Life Sciences Building

Designed by the famed Detroit architect Albert Kahn, Wayne State University’s Life Sciences building was constructed at 5000 Gullen Mall in 1959, connecting to the existing Science Hall. During construction, various radioactive isotopes and bacterial forms were placed together in the cornerstone as an experiment, with the intention of having the cornerstone opened after the building’s eventual demolition to learn the effects of low-level radiation on the bacterium.

Alex Manoogian Hall

One of Wayne State’s many International-style structures, the building originally known as The Speech and Languages Building was constructed at 906 West Warren Avenue in 1970 to house the college’s language programs, among other programs. In 1975, it was renamed in honor of Alex Manoogian, a Detroit businessman and philanthropist.

McGregor Memorial Conference Center

Part of Minoru Yamasaki’s master plan for the campus, the McGregor Memorial Conference Center at 495 Gilmour Mall was gifted to the university by Detroit’s McGregor Fund. The center was built as part of the interconnected Community Arts Center complex that was primarily designed by architect Suren Pilafian. After its competition, the McGregor Memorial Conference Center was dedicated in 1958.

With its distinctive design and surrounding pool and garden, the McGregor Center received national attention. Time magazine described it as a “crisp little temple of talk, set beside a reflecting pool. A university publication stated that in the McGregor Center’s first ten years of operation, it hosted “12,436 separate programs, conferences, institutes and other meetings…” relating to a variety of academic topics. (2)

Arthur Neef Law Library

Before the 1966 construction of the Arthur Neef Law Library at 474 West Ferry Avenue, Wayne State University’s law students had to take courses in an old house, and their materials were housed within the campus’ general library. Designed by the Detroit firm behind the Ford Auditorium and two Cranbrook gymnasiums, the combined law library/classroom building allowed WSU’s law program to consolidate its courses and materials into a single location.

Old Main

The building now known as Old Main was designed by architects William Malcomson and William Higginbotham, to be used as the Detroit Central High School. It was completed in 1896, at 4841 Cass. In 1913, college-level classes began being offered at the high school, as an alternative to expensive secondary education.

This program developed into Detroit Junior College in 1917, and then the College of the City of Detroit in 1923, whose first dean was David Mackenzie. Despite expansions, it became clear that building could no longer host both the Central High School and the new college. The high school relocated in 1926, and the new College of Pharmacy moved in with the City College.

Soon, a number of Detroit colleges merged to form the institution that would be officially named Wayne University in 1934. These included the College of the City of Detroit, the College of Pharmacy, Detroit Medical School, Detroit Teachers’ College, and law and graduate schools. The former high school building became a central location for the new university. It has been expanded and renovated many times since its construction. (3)

Purdy-Kresge Libary

Originally known as the Kresge Science Library, this building was architect Suren Pilafian’s third Wayne State University building, an International/Bauhaus-style collaboration with the Italian architect Francesco Montana. Constructed at 5265 Cass Avenue in 1954, the library featured an innovative climate control system and acoustical tile ceiling, and was honored with a 1955 excellence in design award by the Michigan Society of Architects and the American Institute of Architects. Renamed "Purdy-Kresge Library" in 1972, the building has had no major renovations since its completion.

Science Hall

Built in 1949, this hall located at 5045 Cass Avenue is the oldest science building on campus, and the second structure built specifically for the newly-formed Wayne University. Ralph Calder and Associates, a Detroit-based architectural firm, designed the Science Hall in the Modern Movement style. The firm was also known for designing buildings at Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University.

Shapero Hall

Used by the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Shapero Hall is located at 630 West Ferry Avenue. It was named for Nate S. Shapero, founder of Cunningham Drug Stores, a chain which greatly expanded the number of pharmacy jobs. Glen Paulsen, a 1948 graduate of Sweden’s Royal Academy of Art, built Shapero Hall in the Brutalist style in 1965.

State Hall

The first building constructed specifically for Wayne University, in 1946, State Hall was one part of Suren Pilafian’s master plan for the campus, and is an example of the International architectural style. It’s located at 5143 Cass Avenue.

Built with rearrangeable interior partitions to allow for flexible classroom arrangements, as well as an electrical window washing system lowered from a roof monorail, State Hall was one of the most-used buildings on campus and was expanded in 1956. Each room features windows to allow for ventilation, as it did not initially have air conditioning. Another renovation was completed in 2023.

St. Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church

One of the earlier churches designed by the Boston-based architect Ralph Adams Cram, who would become a major figure in Gothic architecture in America, St. Andrew’s Memorial Episcopal Church was completed at what is now 5105 Anthony Wayne Drive in 1902. Its congregation grew quickly in its first few years of operation, and included Alexander McLeod, who served as both private secretary to Mayor Pingree and president of Maxwell, Briscoe, McLeod company. After a major fire in 1906, the congregation endured difficult years before it received more funding.

With the construction of the Lodge Expressway through the neighborhoods where the church’s congregants lived, and the growth of Wayne State University following World War II, St. Andrew’s was soon one of the only privately-owned properties in the area. (4)

Neighborhoods continued to be demolished for Wayne State’s expansion, causing the congregation to shrink dramatically. The final service at the church was held in 1988, before it was purchased by the university to serve as a musical performance venue.

Uniformed veterans walking towards Old Main, 1940s; A student-made float for Detroit's 250th anniversary, 1951

State Hall night classes, 1958; Students play cards in the Visitor's Center, 1970

Sources

1. National Register of Historic Places, Prentis Building and DeRoy Auditorium Complex, Detroit, Wayne County, MI, 25340780.

2. National Register of Historic Places, McGregor Memorial Conference Center, Detroit, Wayne County, MI, 25340778.

3. National Register of Historic Places, Wayne State University Buildings, Detroit, Wayne County, MI, 25340978.

4. National Register of Historic Places, St. Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church, Detroit, Wayne County, MI, 25338683.

All other information from Commonwealth Heritage Group's Intensive-Level Architectural and Historical Survey of the Cass Corridor, September 2021, prepared for the Historic Designation Advisory Board

Some photos located in: Aschenbrenner, Evelyn. A History of Wayne State University in Photographs, Second Edition. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Wayne State University in the Cass Corridor

Detroit City Council Historic Designation Advisory Board