HR1573 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1573 LRB094 22149 MST 60806 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois wish to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Foellinger Auditorium in 2007; and

WHEREAS, Among the oldest buildings on campus, the Foellinger Auditorium has become the image of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, overlooking the Quad with its 120-foot-diameter dome and Northern Italian Renaissance design; and

WHEREAS, The Foellinger Auditorium began as the idea of President Edmund Janes James, who wished to create a noble monument dedicated to music in his quest to make the university a world-class institution; Clarence Blackall was selected as the architect to design the auditorium; a scaled-back version of what Blackall had conceived was implemented due to lack of funding; and

WHEREAS, Many students, staff, faculty, public figures, orators, educators, and scientists have spoken or performed at the auditorium; Sergei Rachmaninoff, Artur Rubenstein, Igor Stravinsky, John Phillip Sousa, Marian Anderson, Jane Adams, Robert Frost, Ravi Shankar, Duke Ellington, Eleanor Roosevelt, R. Buckminster Fuller, Maya Angelou, and Bill Gates have all appeared there; and

WHEREAS, Renovations over the last century have kept the building up with changing times; in 1983 an alumni gift allowed the University to fulfill Blackall's original aspirations for the Auditorium; and

WHEREAS, The pineapple placed on the top of the dome is the international symbol of welcome; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor the Foellinger Auditorium on its 100th anniversary; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the University of Illinois community as a token of our esteem.