University’s only remaining WWII-era Quonset hut to be razed

The last of 15 Quonset huts used to create temporary classroom, laboratory and library space on campus following World War II is scheduled to be razed starting Monday, Aug. 16.

In 1945-46, the university’s enrollment doubled, necessitating a quick solution to its space shortage.

Q15, located behind Radio Hall and the Education Building on Bascom Hill, was used as an engineering lab in the mid- to late-1940s. The familiar “temporary” structure has remained a part of the campus for more than 60 years. Since 1950, it has served as the Department of Art’s metal-sculpture foundry lab. The foundry equipment that had been housed in it has been relocated to a remodeled site in the warehouse just east of the Kohl Center.

The demolition of Q15 was planned before a large gift for renovating and expanding the Education Building was announced in May. While the hut’s removal could possibly open up some space for the Education Building project, much of the site will be turned into green space.

In his book “The Buildings of the University of Wisconsin,” Jim Feldman writes: “Most of the rest of the Quonset story involves getting rid of them. They were a great help during the post-war crunch, but they were even colder, more poorly lit, and uglier than the much maligned transite temporary buildings scrounged from Camp McCoy.” Commenting on their disappearance from the campus landscape, he surmised that Q15 survived all these years “by staying generally out of sight, and supplying useful space….”

The removal of Q1-Q13 began in 1953. Q14 was taken down to help make room for Helen C. White Hall, which was built in 1969.

Quonset huts, which were trademarked, were first made in Quonset, R.I. for the U.S. military’s use as barracks, MASH units and other uses during World War II. They were prefabricated and portable, with a semicircular, corrugated metal roof that curved downward to form the walls. After the war, many of them were sold. Among the buyers were civilians who wanted them for low-cost single-family homes and universities in need of more classroom space.