[click on any figure to get a larger, high-resolution version]
When the campus opened in 1965, it was devoid of plants, trees and most sidewalks. A good amount of rain came during that first year along with 1,500 students, 118 faculty and 241 staff who had to fight the mud as well as avoid telltale signs of cattle that roamed the campus. We now employ more than 1,109 regular faculty, 1,774 other teaching faculty, approximately 4,799 staff and serve more than 28,000 students.
Commons and Library looking across future Aldrich Park, 1965
|
Towards Commons and Library looking across Aldrich Park, 2013
|
Traffic was light and there was plenty of free parking in muddy fields---yes, fields not lots. The nearest freeway terminated at Beach Boulevard some 15 miles from campus. No one lived in the "City of Irvine", which was a cluster of old buildings on the Irvine Ranch. You could, however, buy a nice home in Newport Beach with a 180° view of the coast for around $40,000. Since the range of faculty annual salaries was approximately $9,000- $20,000, not too many university folks took advantage of that market.
Fine Arts, Humanities, Commons, Library, ca.1965
|
Towards Fine Arts, Humanities, Commons, Library, 2013
|
The only buildings on the early UCI site, 1960. Now the Farm School
|
Farm School, 2013
|
In 1960 the Irvine Co. donated 1000 acres of land to the State for a new UC campus and three years later the University bought 510 additional acres for $6,500/acre. The combined parcel of land is now home to the University as well as an industrial complex and University Hills, the faculty/staff housing project.
The State of California invested approximately 19 million dollars to build the original seven buildings. In comparison, Natural Science II, our most recent science building (2005), came in at a cost of more than $55 million.
The seven buildings of the initial physical plant were: The Science Lecture Hall (now Schneiderman Hall), The Biological Sciences Building (now Steinhaus Hall), The Fine Arts Building, The Humanities Building (together now Krieger Hall), The Commons, The Library, and The Athletic Building (now Crawford Hall).