Campus Currents 
As We Say Farewell
In the year 1892, Ellis Island opened, and became the gateway into America for more than 12 million immigrants. On the opposite side of the country in that same year, visionary pioneers in eastern Washington raised a building that became Walla Walla College, a center for Seventh-day Adventist higher education in the Pacific Northwest.
That landmark, known affectionately by alumni as the Ad Building, finally came down in the fall of 2003 to make way for a new building. On Oct. 27, a group ranging from grade school students to long retired alumni crowded against a chain link fence surrounding the building to watch the wrecking ball begin its work.
It took about 10 days to bring down a building that stood for 111 years. During that time, crowds of varying sizes watched as the brick façade fell away, revealing large boards, hand-nailed in an era before the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, before the turmoil of the Great Depression, and before the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. The onlookers observed a strange dust, sharp with the smell of old wood, which shrouded the demolition site as these walls buckled.
Though the wwc community had officially gathered to say goodbye at a commemorative chapel on Oct. 7, many were back to pay their respects as the face of the long-cherished building disintegrated into history.
Archivists with WWC’s Peterson Memorial Library were able to collect many historical pieces to preserve the Ad Building’s heritage. These include bricks, original doorplates and lock assemblies. The original bell was removed and will be placed in the new building, which features a bell tower design replicating that of the original 1892 building. Digital photos and videos of the building were also taken.
Memorabilia from the Ad Building was collected for an online auction, which will be posted on the Internet in February. The auction will conclude at an event during Homecoming Weekend, April 22-25. The money raised will benefit the new building fund. Mementos of the building consisting of small pieces of wood cut from the attic by Walt Meske, retired vice president for student administration and men’s dean, will also be available at that time. The wood is branded with “Walla Walla College Administration Building 1892-2003” and tied with ribbons in the school colors, orange and green. Time lapse photos of the Ad Building demolition will also be available through Peterson Memorial Library.
For the first time since Benjamin Harrison was in the White House, the sun warms the patch of earth where the Ad Building stood, as Walla Walla College prepares for the next phase in her life. W