Willard Hall gets underway

Our builders joined the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma President Kayla Hale in a ceremonial demolition at Willard Hall at the USAO campus. School officials smashed a wall column to mark the start of a $7 million restoration of this building, designed in 1919 by Oklahoma’s famed architect Solomon Andrew Layton – the same guy who designed the Oklahoma State Capitol Building in 1917 and dozens of other famous Oklahoma landmarks. Working in partnership with the architects at ADG Blatt, Willowbrook will restore this building as a residence hall – including room 102, where Hale once lived as a student back in 1983. In the first photo, she is joined by builders Cary and Weston DeHart of Willowbrook. In the last photo are (from left) USAO Regent Kelly Wilkerson, USAO Vice President for Business and Finance Don Morris, Hale, Director of Housing Operations Delton Gordon, and USAO Foundation Chairman Johnny Trammell.