Here in Archives & Special Collections, we often receive inquiries on buildings and people related to SCU over the years. A patron recently had an inquiry regarding a staff lounge that used to be on campus. The patron provided us with the clues that it was near the St. Ignatius statue on campus, possibly in or near Heafey Law Library, and that it was a circular structure that stood on campus as recently as the year 2000. With these little nuggets of information, I was able to compile a little bit of information on the building’s history.
To learn more about this structure, I dove into record group 3K – Buildings, which are part of University Records that we have here in Archives & Special Collections. Additionally, I looked through record group PHOTO-SCU-CV, which are photographs of different locations around campus over the years, as well as PHOTO-SCU-BLD, our Buildings collection of photographs, which contains mostly photos of the buildings that have existed on SCU’s campus. While I was unable to find anything in either of these photo collections, I did have a little luck in the buildings records, classification 3K. In this collection there are photos and documents about many buildings that have existed on SCU’s campus, as well as visitor guides from over the years that contain maps of the then-current layout of campus.
The faculty lounge in question was a circular structure that had many purposes across the years, including Admissions Center and Publications Center. It resided in the grassy area across from what is now St. Joseph’s Hall, surrounded by Heafey Law Library, Kenna Hall, and the Walsh Administration Building. While we have not been able to locate photos of the structures quite yet, the building was on many campus maps across the years, including on a Campus Bookstore bag featuring a SCU map.
This map, from sometime after 1964, shows the building listed as the “Publications Center” (key is below, listed as number 21). 
If you ever wondered about the history of a building on campus, or the history of buildings that no longer stand on campus, we can help you start your research. Contact us to make an appointment.