Tina Weedon Smith Hall
In recognition of the importance of preservation efforts, this periodic
series features historic buildings on the UI campus.
Architecturally significant in its Beaux Arts Classical Style, Tina Weedon
Smith Hall is more than the music building that helped build the UI's music
department. Smith Hall, completed in 1920, is also a monument to a romance
that crossed the lines between North and South in the Civil War and endured
for longer than the four decades that Capt. Thomas J. and Tina Smith knew
each other and were married.
Captain Smith gave the UI's School of Music 770 acres of farmland, valued
at $250,000 in 1914. He wanted a performance hall built that would honor
the memory of his late wife, who adored music. He helped break ground on
the building in 1916, but didn't live to see it completed.
The exterior of red brick and limestone matches the nearby buildings on
the quadrangle. Its interior is ornate and elegant with marble fireplaces,
detailed cornices, chandeliers, curved stairways and intricate frieze and
woodworking.
Tina Weedon Smith Hall has been changed very little in the past 76 years.
A modern elevator has been added and a wing, matching the exterior, was
built in 1953. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places
on Dec. 8, 1995.
###