Shimer College - Campus

Campus

Further information: Illinois Institute of Technology Campus

Shimer relocated to the main campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2006, after 25 years at its former Waukegan, Illinois location, which comprised a loose collection of vintage houses, an old YWCA, and an apartment building. Then-president Rice believed that the new location would attract a wider pool of students and financial contributors, and would offer expanded student services (such as dining and athletic facilities) and opportunities to cooperate academically with IIT.

The 120-acre (48.6 ha) campus is centered around 33rd and State Streets, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the Chicago Loop, in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. Also known as the Black Metropolis District, the area is a landmark in African-American history for the many notable African-American people and institutions that thrived there in the mid-20th century. The extant structures from that period were added jointly to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and were designated a Chicago Landmark in 1998.

The campus on which Shimer resides was designed by modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, described by the New York Times as "one of the great figures of 20th-century architecture". Van der Rohe's master plan for the IIT campus was one of the most ambitious projects he ever conceived and the campus, with 20 of his works, is the greatest concentration of his buildings in the world. The campus was landscaped by van der Rohe's close colleague Alfred Caldwell, one the last representatives of the Prairie School of landscape architects. In 1976, the American Institute of Architects named the IIT campus one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the United States. The IIT Main Campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Shimer occupies 17,000 square feet (1,580 m2) on the first and second floors of what was formerly the Institute of Gas Technology complex, under a long-term lease agreement with IIT. The complex, designed by van der Rohe, consists of four buildings built between 1947 and 1955. The South building was home to the first industrial nuclear reactor in the U.S.

Shimer students who choose to live on-campus reside in Gunsaulus Hall, which was converted into a fully furnished apartment-style residence in 2008. Shimer has access to the resources of the Paul V. Galvin Library, IIT's main research library, which contains 1.8 million volumes, more than 25,500 journal titles, and a wide range of digital resources. Shimer's own collection of 15,000 books is also housed in the Galvin library, where it was moved when the school relocated from Waukegan.

Other facilities available to Shimer students include the McCormick Tribune Campus Center (MTCC), which was designed by internationally acclaimed architect Rem Koolhaas in 2003. The facility is the main student activity center, with food courts, a newsstand, lounge areas, conference centers, computer workstations, a bookstore, and an auditorium. Students may also take advantage of the Keating Sports Center, the main athletic complex and home to IIT's varsity teams. The center offers racquetball courts, bowling, rock climbing, and a wide range of dance and exercise classes along with basketball, volleyball, soccer and other team sports.