{"nrhp_refnum":"71000638","name":"Towers Hall, Otterbein College","other_names":["University Building","Central Building","Administration Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main and Grove Sts., Otterbein College campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Westerville","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":40.125063312000066,"lon":-82.94805671299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-03-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Towers Hall is the main administration and classroom building on the Otterbein College campus at W. Main and Grove Streets in Westerville, Franklin County, Ohio. Its cornerstone was laid in 1870 and it was completed in 1872, to a design by architect Robert T. Brookes.","why_significant":"The form presents Towers Hall as the most interesting historical building on the Otterbein campus and a robust example of High Victorian Gothic design, quoted from an Ohio Historical Society study of college architecture. It has served continuously as the main classroom building since 1872. The nomination also treats it as a symbol of a new era in American higher education after the Civil War.","narrative":"Towers Hall is the central academic building of Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. Its cornerstone was laid in 1870 and construction finished in 1872, at a cost of $35,000. Architect Robert T. Brookes designed a large masonry structure measuring 170 by 107 feet, with pointed windows and doorways, buttresses, slate roofs and three differing towers. A study of Ohio college architecture describes it as robust, vertical and highly sculptural High Victorian Gothic, far removed from the restrained style of earlier college buildings. Material from the demolished First Main building was reused in its walls. Since 1872 it has served as the main classroom building, and it has also held administrative offices, science laboratories, the library, a chapel, literary society rooms and the college's first radio station. The only major alteration was a library addition in 1954. Engineers found the building sound, and the college planned to repair it while keeping the exterior unchanged.","period_of_significance":"1872","architect_builder":"Robert T. Brookes (architect)","architectural_style":"High Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition and occupied, in educational use, with its original site retained. The roof and foundations leak, and waterproofing work was under way, with interior renovation planned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.096599-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/71000638.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000638/ec97bb2652-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000638/ec97bb2652-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Christopher L. Riley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Towers_Hall_%E2%80%94_Otterbein_University.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Christopher L. Riley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Towers_Hall_%E2%80%94_Otterbein_University.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988479","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138337573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/towers-hall-otterbein-college-71000638/"}