State Committee Finds University Facilities 'Inadequate'
An inspection of the University of Washington reveals crumbling infrastructure and classroom shortages, prompting a call for a new site near the lakes.
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A report submitted by a joint special committee to visit the University of Washington finds the main building's equipment inadequate for the work. The recitation rooms are very small, and the hallways have been transformed into classrooms. The chemical laboratory is not more than 15 feet in dimension with very little apparatus. In short, there is not a city or town in the state that can boast of public school buildings that will not measurably surpass in their provisions for educational facilities the meager accommodations supplied by the state university. The committee visited the proposed new site bordering on both Lake Union and Lake Washington and reports that this site will form an almost perfect location for a great educational institution.
“There is not a city or town in the state that can boast of public school buildings that will not measurably surpass in their provisions for educational facilities the meager accommodations supplied by the state university.”
The University of Washington’s facilities were so dismal in 1893 that they were outclassed by local public schools. The committee’s recommendation for the current campus location near the lakes set the stage for the university's development into a major urban research institution.
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