Harden Hall at Northern Michigan University in Marquette opened in 1969 as a learning-resource center designed to bring library, broadcast, computing, audiovisual, archival and teaching-support services together. The university’s Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center identifies Alden B. Dow Associates as architect and reports a construction cost of $5.5 million, including equipment.
Which Harden Hall is this?
This account concerns the Edgar L. Harden Learning Resource Center at Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Marquette, Michigan. The name is not unique: a separate Harden Hall is in Harden, Bradford, England. The building history below follows NMU’s identification of its campus building as Harden Hall. Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center: “A Beautiful Location”
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When was Harden Hall built and dedicated?
NMU’s heritage history says the building opened in 1969. It was dedicated on August 11, 1973, as the Edgar L. Harden Learning Resource Center. The dates mark different milestones: opening preceded the formal dedication by four years. The page does not give a groundbreaking date or construction sequence.
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The architect was Alden B. Dow Associates of Midland, Michigan. The university history names K.F. Leinninger & Associates of Royal Oak, Michigan, as consulting engineers. It does not identify a construction contractor or specify the building’s structural system or materials.
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What did construction cost, and how large was the center?
The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center reports a total cost of $5.5 million, including equipment: $4.5 million from the state and $1 million from the federal government. It gives the building’s area as 173,000 square feet, with a planned capacity of 300,000 volumes and 2,500 reader stations. These are figures reported by the university history; its page does not state their publication year or cite a separate study. The volume and reader-station counts describe planned capacity, not verified current holdings or occupancy.
What was Harden Hall designed to do?
The center was planned to consolidate several learning and information services. NMU’s heritage page lists its primary uses as:
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- Lydia M. Olson Library
- WNMU-TV and Radio
- Computer services
- Audiovisual services
- NMU Archives
- Center for Teaching and Learning
The grouping reflects a broad concept of learning resources: print collections alongside broadcast media, computing, archival materials and support for teaching. The university source lists these as planned primary uses; it does not establish which operations remain in the building today.
Why was it called a Learning Resource Center?
A program presented to the legislature in February 1966 described the aim as giving students opportunities for independent study by making effective learning resources available in a functional building. It said the center would bring together “the student, the teacher, the written and the spoken word together.” The statement is attributed to the program, not to a named individual.
Who was Edgar L. Harden?
Edgar L. Harden became president of Northern Michigan College in 1956. According to the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center, he oversaw development of the graduate program in 1960 and was instrumental in developing the Learning Resources Center later dedicated to him. The heritage page also associates his presidency with expansion of music and theater programs, the launch of the Job Corps program and development of several campus buildings.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the published history does not establish
The cited university history provides key dates, institutional figures, design attribution and the center’s original program. It does not document the contractor, construction methods, groundbreaking, later renovations or present-day use of every listed service. Those details should not be inferred from the building’s original plan.
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