User:Dw7329/Wayne State University's Shapero Hall

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Shapero Hall, Wayne State University

Shapero Hall is the building located between Palmer and Ferry Mall on Wayne State Universities main campus. This building currently serves as a lecture hall, labs for the biological and chemistry departments as well as maintenance offices. Shapero Hall’s unique architecture was designed by Paulsen, Gardner & Associates.

History

The Shapero Hall that students know today by the buildings odd architecture was originally known as Shapero Hall of Pharmacy and housed the Wayne States pharmaceutical department in 1965. The building was built in honor of Nate S. Shapero, who was the president of Cunningham Drug store. Cunningham’s Drug store at the time was largest chain pharmaceutical company in the state. When the department grew to be too large, the university decided to move the department to 1400 Chrysler drive and rename the building on the main campus, The Natural Science Building, in 1984. The Pharmacology Department made its most recent movie to the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2001. The Natural Science building then was returned to its original name in 2001 to Shapero Hall.

Nate Shapero

Nate S. Shapero, the famous name behind Shapero Hall, was born on September 27, 1892 to Samuel and Augusta Shapero. He graduated from Ferris Institute in Big Rapids, Michigan and made himself a career as an entrepreneur in his hometown, Detroit, Michigan. He was a leading force behind the growing pharmaceutical industry, and served as “a director of the National Bank of Detroit.” According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Shapero “served in the United States Navy during World War I, and as a dollar-a-year-man in the United States Treasury Department during World War I.” Later, he was known for being the president and honorary chairman of the board of Cunningham Drug Stores. Nate S. Shapero and his wife, Ruth Shapero, made many contributions to Jewish Institutions, and a large contribution to the development of Shapero Hall, being half of the cost. In addition, Ruth and Nate made an endowment to the nursing school of Sinai Hospital, which later became a part of Wayne State University. He later died in the year of 1990, living a long 98 years.

Structure

The upside-down triangular design was done by Paulsen, Gardner & Associates and was completed in 1965. They designed the building using models of the Mayan ziggurat. " An inverted ziggurat, influenced perhaps by the landmark Boston City Hall, or a frontier fort. The upper-story window slits protect volatile experiments from light of day. As Hawkins Ferry noted, the structure itself seems to curiously defy the laws of gravity". In total there are 17 rooms total accessible by students. Shapero Hall has five levels total including the basement.

Classes and Departments

Shapero Hall mainly consists of Labs and classrooms for college science classes such as Microbiology and Embryology. The basement of the building consists of bathrooms, an elevator, lockers and a few rooms. The first floor contains a lecture hall, two mechanical rooms, and an elevator. The second floor contains Professor’s offices, bathrooms and an elevator. The third floor contains the Microbiology lab, Embryology, Histology Teaching lab, the MBRS Resource Center (still under construction), bathrooms, and an elevator. The fourth floor consists of microbiology preparations room, an Intro Lab as well as other classrooms, bathrooms, and an elevator.

Rumors of Shapero Hall

Shapero Hall amongst the students has multiple rumors that can not be proven true. Shapero hall’s awkward design has caused people to believe that the building is unsafe due to the third and fourth floor hanging over free airspace with no support. Another wildly popular rumor is that just the 4 corner rooms on the 4th floor are closed off due to the room being over the weight limit.

Future Developments

Recently in The South End, Wayne State University’s newspaper, the Board of Governors approved roof replacements for various buildings in October of 2010. The reported costs were about $670,000. Shapero Hall was among one of the many buildings to receive a new roof. Currently, there are no other current developments at the time. The roof was completed November 19th, 2010.

References

“Shapero, Nate S.” jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Jewish Virtual Library, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2010.
The Nate S. Shapero Family Collection. oss.tbeonline.org. Temple Beth El. 06 July 2010. Web. 25 Jan. 2010.
AIA Detroit: the American Institute of Architects guide to Detroit architecture By Eric J. Hill, John Gallagher, American Institute of Architects. Detroit Chapter