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Happy 75th Anniversary to the UT Tower

Today marks the diamond anniversary of the UT tower.
Photo courtesy flickr.com/ericejohnson
Today marks the diamond anniversary of the UT tower.

Today, the Main Building on the University of Texas campus – also known simply as the Tower – celebrates its 75th anniversary.

KUT News recently toured the tower with Jim Nicar, acting director of the UT Heritage Society, who got into the history behind the iconic building:

The university hired Philadelphia-based architect Paul Cret in 1930 to develop a master plan for UT. “He came in and said, ‘You know, you really need to have the library on the top of the hill,’ and convinced both the faculty building committee and the regents to do that,” Nicar says. The library needed to be big enough to store all the university’s books, so they decided to build up – 27 stories up. It was a chance to build something more than just a library. This would be a symbol, and Paul Cret knew it.

A list of events celebrating the building is available online. You can also brush up on the tower’s numerous lighting configurations, and even get a live shot of the tower on the University Co-op’s live tower cam

Wells has been a part of KUT News since 2012, when he was hired as the station's first online reporter. He's currently the social media host and producer for Texas Standard, KUT's flagship news program. In between those gigs, he served as online editor for KUT, covering news in Austin, Central Texas and beyond.
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