ILLUSTRATIONS Beneath Text

Architects:	E.B. Green and Son
Erected	1932
Style:	Georgian Revival
Gross Square Feet:	76,088
Construction Cost:	$520,000
Building material:	Limestone
Model for Crosby Hall:	Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, Scotland

Crosby Hall was named by the University Council in honor of the contributions of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Crosby (and their children) to the university's development.

William H. Crosby (d. 1944), a bicycle frame manufacturer, served on the UB Council and was active in the YMCA. At a critical point in the university's history, from 1919 to 1921, he served as university treasurer and also served for a number of years as chair of the finance committee.

Crosby Hall originally housed the School of Business Administration (School of Management) before it became the studio spaces for the School of Architecture and Planning

Architects

In 1933, E.B Green Jr. died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He had been architect-in-charge for the design of Crosby Hall, Norton Hall, and Lockwood Memorial Library at the University of Buffalo. A few years earlier, Green and Sons had won the commission to create a master plan for the entire University, as well as design several key buildings in the plan.

The highly classical plan which the firm produced used Lockwood Library as its focal point (much like the Rotunda in Thomas Jefferson's plan for the University of Virginia) with lesser buildings sited to establish a hierarchy of functions through geometrical relationships. The intent was to create major open space surrounded by academic buildings and auxiliary areas to accommodate student housing, athletic facilities, and service buildings. The strength of their plan lay in its ability to enclose the entire campus and to create a true sense of place and identity..

For approximately ten years, the firm worked on plans for Crosby Hall, Lockwood Library, Norton Union,Hayes Hall, Clark Gymnasium, and the Service Building. Once again, the firm chose the English Renaissance Period as inspiration for the design of the buildings.

From 1933-36, Green Sr. worked on the project until R. Maxwell James joined the firm, which was thenceforth named Green and James until 1945.

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See also:

• Crosby Hall UB page on the building. Includes map and information
  
  
• History of University Heights, by James Napora
  
  
• The faces behind the facades : Recalling the namesakes of UB buildings by Ann Whitcher and Shonnie Finnegan
  
  
• Hayes Hall Also on the UB South Campus. Illustrations, history.
  
  
• Lockwood Memorial Library / Abbott Hall Also on the UB South Campus. Illustrations, history.