SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Surrounded by rust-colored autumn leaves atop a gently sloping hill, Myers Hall, located in the heart of the Wittenberg University campus, stands tall and proud behind its four white pillars in the newly published 2004 calendar titled "Ohio Places."
Photographed by Ohio's premier landscape photographer Ian Adams, historic Myers Hall, the first building to grace the Wittenberg campus when it was completed in 1851, introduces the month of November in the calendar.
Adams traversed the Buckeye State to discover those places that are uniquely Ohio for his new book, Ohio: A Bicentennial Portrait, which treats Ohioans to a grand tour of the state's natural and historical treasures in honor of Ohio's 200th birthday this year. Adams then selected 16 photos for inclusion in the calendar from the more than 300 he took for the commemorative book.
Myers Hall, named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, joins such Ohio landmarks as the Marblehead Lighthouse and Magnolia Mill in the calendar, which is now available in bookstores.
Originally a classroom building, residence hall and cafeteria all in one, Myers Hall is one of the most popular residence halls for Wittenberg students today. Myers' cherished place in the university's history, its charm and convenient location consistently beckon students to enter its welcoming doors despite the fact that the venerable structure is showing its age.
Thanks to a generous matching gift from the Turner Foundation in 2001, and gifts from hundreds of alumni and friends, however, plans are currently underway to renovate the aging structure and preserve the distinctive character that defines this valuable monument to Wittenberg's past.
"Myers Hall is the original Wittenberg," said Charles Dominick, vice president of advancement, "and we're honored to see it included in this beautiful calendar."
