EIU Housing

HISTORY OF LINCOLN HALL

Lincoln Hall, in conjunction with its male counterpart, Powell-Norton Hall (formerly Douglas Hall), was completed in 1952. Lincoln was intended to house men until the need for female housing - 44 years after the construction of Pemberton Hall - was realized.

Designed to house 194 occupants in 77 rooms with six bathrooms, Lincoln offered the women's laundry facilities, a common dining room, a recreation room, and several kitchenettes. Per a Daily Eastern News article from March 1952, students were excited about the contemporary design and furnishings and compared it to a hotel: “The furniture is in three color schemes – soft red, dainty green and gray…while every room is furnished with draperies and bedspreads.”

As more residence halls were built and the campus population grew, more housing spaces for men were needed. In 1959, Lincoln Hall began to house only men and did so until 1966.

In the summer of 2010, Lincoln Hall underwent major renovations for the remodeling of the bathroom styles in the hall corridors. Traditional-style community bathrooms were replaced by “pods” which are semi-private restrooms and shower rooms with a common area sink. The space needed for the new pods eliminated six residential rooms, and cost an estimated $4 million.

The total cost of construction for Lincoln and Powell-Norton Halls totaled $900,000.