Stark Hall

Stark Hall. Remembering Agnes: 50 Years After The Flood. , Both Stark Hall and the Stark Learning Center were named after Admiral Harold Raynsford Stark. Stark was a commander of the U.S. Navy during World War I and World War II, as well as a Wilkes College Board of Trustees member from 1947 through 1964, chairing the trustees from 1959-1964. The location originally housed Denison, Warner, Ashley, Barre, and Butler halls, however these dormitories were demolished to give way to the vision of a new science and learning building. Stark Hall was built in 1957, however as the college grew, more space was needed for science classes. Plans were put in place to construct an addition to Stark Hall, a project which would be named, "Stark Learning Center". Construction was underway in 1971 with the center designed to incorporate all science majors, however these plans were halted when Hurricane Agnes flooded the building., The physics and engineering departments, which had expanded to offer the M.S. degree in physics and B.S. degrees in materials and electronics engineering and environmental science, were completely flooded and experienced severe damage to laboratory and scientific equipment. With the assistance of Thomas Kelly, the director of development for the college, President Michelini visited private companies and other organizations in order to fundraise for money to resume the construction of the center. It inevitably cost Wilkes 7 million dollars due to inflation to complete. The building was constructed and dedicated on October 11, 1975. Stark Learning Center continues to be an edifice for innovation and leading edge research in the sciences to this day.