 Nancy A. Oliver sits outside the old “Home Management House,” where she lived during her senior year. Photo by Casey Gahagan
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by MARY ELIZABETH ROBERTSON
Lifestyles Reporter
The walls were once neutral and the living room was once where the current receptionist sits.
A shower curtain hangs in the bathroom and the refrigerator in the kitchen remains frequently used.
The current Dean’s Office of Fine and Applied Arts, now filled with student records and graduation audits, will be torn down at the end of the spring semester, but it was once home to Nancy A. Oliver, Appalachian State University alumna and Department of Family and Consumer Sciences faculty.
Located on Locus Street, the building was called “The Home Management House.”
“[There] was
a laundry room with a washer and dryer and a big press for tablecloths,
because we used to have to entertain,” Oliver said.
Oliver graduated in the 1970s and always knew she would attend Appalachian.
Her mother, Celeste B. Stephens, also lived in the Home Management House when she was enrolled in the 1930s.
The house was then located near the current Office of Human Resources on Hardin Street.
“When my
mother went here, women could not wear pants,” Oliver said. “If they
wanted to go on a picnic and wear pants, they had to go out through the
back door and not get caught.”
At the time,
school years were broken into four parts, and as a home economics
education major, Oliver was required to live in the house for one
quarter.
“I remember eating lunch with my instructor,” Oliver said. “We would sit and watch the students pass by on their way to class.”
While Oliver
was enrolled, males were not allowed in rooms belonging to females
except for occasional visiting hours, during which the door was kept
open.
College of
Fine and Applied Arts Dean Glenda Treadaway is sad to see the building
go, but understands the need for a new facility.
Treadaway
said the building has provided her with many memories, including an
annual open house held before Christmas, in which all faculty and staff
are invited for a meal and fellowship.
“I remember
my first summer in the home and it not being air conditioned,”
Treadaway said. “It was so hot, and I had a little thermometer on my
desk and it got close to 110 degrees.”
Following the destruction of the dean’s office, a new infrastructure will be built and completed in the summer of 2012.
David M.
Sweet, design and construction engineer, said the new facility will
feature living space and classrooms, a nine-story residence hall and a
three-story living learning center.
“The building
will be state-of-the-art,” Sweet said. “In all three buildings, [we
will have] solar collectors on the residence hall tower.”
Two-thirds of the building will be reserved for honors program classrooms and offices.
Though Oliver has no pictures, she does have memories.
“I will miss
the old house,” she said. “I don’t have any pictures of me staying in
the house, but I never regretted living there.”
Photo by Casey Gahagan | The Appalachian
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