The DL With L&L
story by Gunner Stuns, photos by Yohanes Goodell, design by Alejandro Vizcarra
We are gathered here today in memory of a building that once stood tall at the north end of Central Washington University’s campus, the Language & Literature building, or L&L. Having been a staple of CWU’s English, world language and philosophy departments, the L&L building stood for over 50 years before its closure and demolition earlier in 2024. Many faces over the decades had passed through its confusing halls, ascended its seemingly-unending staircases and learned in its classrooms that looked over the rest of campus. In honor of the building’s longevity in CWU history, here is a retrospective look-back at the brick behemoth that was once called L&L.
A Brief Sense Of History
Prior to its timely demolition and removal, L&L stood as CWU’s primary hub for the humanities discipline for around 53 years. According to a story written in the Spokane-Spokesman-Review from all the way back in 1967, drawn schematics were approved for the building that same year. The article further states that “The new language and literature building, to house the foreign language, English, and philosophy departments, is being designed by Grant, Copeland & Chervenak Architects, Seattle.” As those who have spent time in L&L can confirm, those plans certainly held true. It’s also written on the Pacific Coast Architecture Database that construction of the building took place from 1968 to 1969 and that it was finally opened in all of its linguistic and literary glory in 1971. From there, the rest is academic history.
Why bye bye?
Eagle-eyed readers will notice just by walking through north campus that the Language & Literature Building stands no more. But for what reason? Why remove an academic structure that had been part of CWU’s history and housed several departments for decades? According to Joe Chanes, a construction project coordinator at CWU, there are two primary answers.
“The removal of L&L is part of a long-term goal for Central Washington University’s campus to reduce our carbon footprint,” Chanes says. He adds that L&L operates on CWU’s steam plant (which burns natural gasses) that the university is trying to move away from in favor of a more green, renewable source of geothermal energy. Another reason for the permanent dismissal of L&L, according to Chanes, has to do with the building’s lack of energy efficiency. “The design of the building during the 60s was not concerned about being energy efficient” Chanes says. “The overall costs to maintain HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] equipment, having the equipment constantly running to maintain a comfortable temperature was no longer viable.”
Chanes also states that there were some challenges when it came to the process of demolishing L&L, mostly due to the fact that it was an old building. “The abatement [removal] of the building from hazardous materials such as asbestos was a time consuming process that required strict testing of each floor after abatement was completed to ensure it was a safe working space,” Chanes says. Another problem that crews faced when time for deconstruction came was the limited space offered by the area L&L once stood in. According to Chanes, the demolition crew had some trouble accessing the space with their heavy equipment and had to work harder to mitigate noise and dust so as not to interfere with the going-ons of campus.
Chanes and his team are far from the first to note that the building’s time in the sun had long passed. PULSE’s sister publication, The Observer, published articles in both 2018 and 2020 noting that L&L was “showing age.” Reporter Nick Jahnke writes in the Nov. 15, 2018 edition that the building’s problems include everything from “uneven floors and tripping hazards to handicap accessibility issues.” According to the same issue, these developments had gotten bad enough to the point that “some of the L&L staff feel that many of these issues pose safety concerns and may even leave CWU open to lawsuits.”
The article from 2020 leaves less room for interpretation, with its headline reading “L&L building falling apart.” This piece from the March 4 edition that year goes on to describe several issues students and staff alike faced in L&L, including broken desks and unreliable elevators. It seems by all accounts that the common consensus was that L&L had run its course, even years ago.
So Long And Thanks For All The Memories
With the L&L building’s time on CWU campus now behind us, it seems only appropriate to share some last words on the storied structure in honor of its legacy. PULSE sat down with three former L&L residents to get their last thoughts and testaments regarding the place where they once taught.
There are few who spent as much time in L&L as Adjunct Lecturer Kevin Leaverton. Having been a student at CWU in the early 1990’s, Leaverton possesses the perspective of one who had gone from attending classes in L&L to teaching them. “I was in that building from 1994 to 2022 pretty consistently,” Leaverton says. Serving as part of the English department, Leaverton’s office was stationed in L&L for 22 years (where he had a fourth floor view). He also taught several classes there, from literature to 20th century humanities.
“I liked the building as far as the architecture,”Leaverton recalls. “I liked it was right next to the library. Pretty close to big parking lots, you didn't walk very far.” Like many others though, Leaverton is in agreement that it was time for the building to be put out to pasture. “Sometimes there were plumbing issues, there were often issues with electrical stuff and especially the elevator” Leaverton says. “And if the elevator went out, the building wasn't ADA compliant. So it was a problem.”
Leaverton notes that CWU maintenance staff did the best they could when it came to L&L, often trying to introduce new technologies to keep facilities up to standard, but there was little they could do in the end. Leaverton also notes a particular incident regarding pest control. “We had a fly infestation that we just could not get rid of,” Leaverton says. “You just had to kind of live with it, they were in the windows.”
Another former resident of L&L is Spanish Professor Nathalie Kasselis, whose history with the building began when she started teaching there in 1996. “[L&L] is where I interviewed for my job at Central,” Kasselis says. “This is where I got tenure. This is where I got promoted. This is the time in my life where I had my two sons. So L&L is very, very dear to me.”
Kasselis taught Spanish in L&L and even briefly taught French prior to the hiring of a dedicated professor. One thing that she notes about the building was that it truly felt like a hub for the humanities departments, which created a community beyond world language and extended to other branches. “On the other floors, you know, philosophy was hosted as well as English” Kasselis says. “So we had a community. We often met in the hallways, exchanged ideas, news and stories and so I think that was the best part of being in L&L.”
Kasselis adds that she also felt the sense of community fostered in L&L created an inviting space for students as well, where it was easy to find a professor’s office and get into contact with them outside of classes. In terms of negative aspects to teaching in the building, Kasselis notes many of the same issues as Leaverton, including difficulties with regulating temperature and plumbing.
On a more personal note, there was another anecdote connected to L&L that Kasselis shared. “I had a very close friend who used to teach Russian here in our department and in front of L&L, there was a bench,” Kasselis says. She goes on to talk about how she and her friend would meet at this bench on breaks, where they would have discussions, relax and talk over issues. “This bench was so symbolic of our friendship, that I was very sad actually to see it go,” Kasselis says. “I tried to see if I could talk to somebody and maybe rescue the bench, but I didn't do that in time.”
Religious Studies Professor Jeffery Dippman also spent 15 to 20 years teaching in L&L, where most of his classes were geared towards Asian philosophy. When asked what some of his favorite memories of the building were, Dippman was quick to point to his office. “I love my office. Brick lined, nice corner, I had a view out,” Dippman says. “It was a comfortable office. It was quiet. Just a nice atmosphere.”
Dippman specifies that one of the best parts about the location of his office was its place on the third floor, where there was a large commons area that also housed the offices of his colleagues. In Dippman’s opinion, this setup was a big help to the learning environment. “We had a lot more one-on-one contact with students,” Dippman says. “Students were already in the building, so they dropped in to talk to us. I think in terms of student forward facing, L&L was by far much more conducive to what we do here in the department.”
Like Kasselis, Dippman also notes that there was a sense of community found in L&L, as compared to his current residence where he feels a bit more isolated. “I've got a couple of good colleagues in Asian studies,” Dippman recalls. “It resulted in four of us writing a grant for Korean studies and getting a three year grant. So we were able to kick off a Korean studies minor.” In terms of the challenges of teaching in L&L, Dippman’s observations were largely the same as those of Kasselis and Leaverton, including poor air circulation and unreliable elevators.
What’s Next?
The plot of land where the L&L building once stood won’t be all dirt piles, fences and construction equipment forever. With demolition now in the stages of completion, planning is well underway in regards to L&L’s successor, the North Academic Complex. According to Chanes, this building will be in line with the renewable, geothermal energy style of power that CWU is transitioning towards.
“This complex is actually in two parts,” Chanes says. “You have the academic building that will stand in place of where the flag pavilion once stood and then you will have the GeoEco plant across the street in the parking lot of Dean Nicholson, which houses the mechanical equipment that will be fed by the geothermal well.” To learn more about the North Academic Complex, students can navigate to CWU’s website, where information is steadily being revealed.
