Robinson Building (Site)

Here follows an excerpt from the George Mason University library website:

George Mason University: A History
Mason's First Building Boom:
Filling out the First Forty Acres during the 1970s

In late 1970 the 568-acre Fairfax Campus of George Mason College comprised six buildings and a parking lot. The tiny North, South, East, and West Buildings opened in September 1964 and hosted classrooms, labs, administrative and faculty offices, and the dining hall. Fenwick Library and the Lecture Hall were completed in the fall of 1967. A seventh building, the Arts and Sciences Building, which was later named Thompson Hall, was still under construction and would not open until September 1971. The steady increase in enrollment, coupled with Mason’s ambitious expansion program, necessitated additional buildings.

In 1970, a new wave of building began at Mason. Key buildings would begin to fill the first forty cleared acres of the original 147 given by the Town of Fairfax in 1959. Aerial photography of the campus from that era showed some kind of construction, no matter what year the photo was taken. At one point in 1974, three major construction projects within yards of each other (the Fenwick Library Tower, Robinson A, and the Student Union) were in progress simultaneously. Construction trailers and vehicles, steel framing, and large piles of dirt were an everyday part of the campus landscape for much of the 1970s.

Academic II, later named Robinson Hall for the late George Mason College Advisory Board Chairman, Clarence Robinson, was the largest academic building to open on the Fairfax Campus during the 1970s. The building cost $2.4 million to construct, and its first phase, Wing A, was opened in July 1975. [6] Robinson Hall figured heavily in University President Vergil Dykstra’s plan to move the entire population of the North Campus, Mason’s satellite campus located on Route 50, four miles to the north, back to the main Fairfax Campus by 1978, the date Robinson B was scheduled for completion. This would have indeed mitigated complaints among students, faculty, and staff there of isolation from the Fairfax Campus. Although Robinson provided a significant amount of classroom and lab space--it contained 28 classrooms, 14 labs, and a 500-seat two-story theater--North Campus would remain in operation for another five years.


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Vault217" blog produced by George Mason University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center:

Robinson Hall: The Beginning of the End (for now), Part 1
September 19, 2018

As you might have noticed by now, our beloved Robinson Hall is being prepared for demolition so that a new and more-modern Robinson Hall can rise up in its place by 2022. Robinson opened in September 1975 and was named for Clarence Robinson, a long-time friend and benefactor to the university. Before then it was simply known as Academic II. Robinson’s Wing A cost about $2.4 million to construct and was opened in July 1975.

Many of us probably remember Robinson as a dreary place to take a class because there were very few windows (most of the classrooms and labs were on the interior of the building, while the faculty offices were on the outer edge). There were no study areas (except for the hallway floors), and there was only one (very slow) elevator. I took the stairs (which zig-zagged front and back as you went up and down) 99.9% of the time. But with a rapidly growing student population, Robinson fit the bill at the time. It housed several departments, more than 40 classrooms and labs, and it had a vending machine area that rivaled many classrooms in size.

In late 1970 the 568-acre Fairfax Campus of George Mason College comprised six buildings and a parking lot. The tiny North, South, East, and West Buildings opened in September 1964 and hosted classrooms, labs, administrative and faculty offices, and the dining hall. Fenwick Library and the Lecture Hall were completed in the fall of 1967. A seventh building, the Arts and Sciences Building, which was later named Thompson Hall, was still under construction and would not open until September 1971. With plans to become an independent university in 1972, George Mason had begun a monumental transformation.

In September of 1970 enrollment at Mason was 2,398. Three years later it had more than doubled to 4,926. Academic program offerings also increased from 25 in 1970 to 38 in 1973. The steady increase in enrollment, coupled with Mason’s ambitious academic expansion program, necessitated additional buildings.

Beginning in 1970, a new wave of construction began at Mason. Key buildings would begin to fill the first forty cleared acres of the original 147 donated by the Town of Fairfax in 1959. Aerial photography of the campus from that era showed some kind of construction, no matter what year the photo was taken. At one point in 1974, three major construction projects within yards of each other (the Fenwick Library Tower, Robinson A, and the Student Union) were in progress simultaneously. Construction trailers and vehicles, steel framing, and large piles of dirt were an everyday part of the campus landscape for much of the 1970s.

Clarence J. Robinson was a successful Northern Virginia businessman who had tremendous interest in the education of the area’s citizens. In 1939 he founded the Robinson Terminal Warehouse Corporation in Springfield, and in 1957 he became president of the First and Citizen Bank in Alexandria. Robinson joined the George Mason College Advisory Board in 1964, and served as its chairman until 1970, while also making generous donations to the school, including some real estate property in the early 1970s. Upon his death in 1983, Robinson’s will stipulated that one-half of his estate was to be given to George Mason University.

In 1975 George Mason University’s Academic II building was renamed Clarence J. Robinson Hall in his honor.

A few years ago the University arrived at the conclusion that Robinson Hall and the infrastructure that serves it has outlived its useful life. A new building and surrounding landscape was designed to replace this hard-working building. This past summer Robinson Hall A was closed in preparation for demolition and the construction of a building and public area that will transform the center of the Fairfax Campus. More about the project will be forthcoming in Part II!


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Vault217" blog produced by George Mason University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center:

Robinson Hall: The Beginning of the End (for now), Part 2
January 10, 2019

George Mason University faculty, staff, and students noticed increased activity around Robinson A when the Fairfax Campus reopened after the Winter Break on January 7th. Mason’s second academic building, originally completed in 1975, will be levelled during the first half of January. According to the univerwsity’s time line the space occupied by Robinson A will be cleared out, new foundations for the new Robinson Hall will be laid and the utility installations will begin during the spring semester. Sometime later, Robinson B will meet the same fate.

Robinson A was originally part of a trio of simultaneous construction projects taking place on the Fairfax Campus between 1973 and 1975. Mason’s Fairfax Campus, characterized by some as resembling a “war zone”, was undergoing needed expansion necessitated by its promotion to an independent regional university and skyrocketing enrollment growth (more than doubling from 2,398 to 4,926 from 1970-1973). University officials foresaw this during the late 1960s and began planning for the next three buildings once the 1970s began. The three included: the first stack tower of Fenwick Library (called Library II back then), a new academic classroom/lab/office building (known as Academic II and now Robinson A), and a student center (then called the University Union and now Student Union Building or “SUB” I).

Interestingly, construction on Library II and Academic II began on the same day, February 21, 1973, with a combined-project groundbreaking ceremony. A unique program was printed for the ceremony, which took place both inside the Finley Building and outdoors at a spot in between both future construction sites in the chilly February weather.

George Mason’s student newspaper, Broadside, was on hand to report on the ceremony. A staff photographer captured the priceless image of President Loren A. Thompson behind the wheel of a John Deere backhoe.

Academic II A was completed in July of 1975. When opened that fall, the 100,000 square-foot building featured 28 classrooms, 14 labs, and 135 faculty offices. Project cost was $2.4 million. It was renamed for a university benefactor, Clarence Johnston Robinson, at its dedication on September 24th of that year.

Flash forward 44 years to 2019, and it is time for the old Robinson Hall A wing to go. It and, sometime in the future, Robinson B will be replaced by a new sophisticated building and grounds in 2022. Demolition crews were at work in Robinson A over the Winter Break, removing nearly all of the interior parts of the building. The exterior of the building will be removed during the first half of the spring semester, and results will be noticeable by the time the semester begins. This photo was taken from the vantage point of the front entrance to Student Union I.

George Mason University Facilities has installed a webcam on the roof of Student Union Building I so that interested persons could monitor the Robinson Hall project on a daily basis.


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Vault217" blog produced by George Mason University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center:

Robinson Hall: We’ve Been Here Before
June 4, 2019

The central part of George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus is undergoing a major facelift. The building that was once Robinson Hall A was demolished this spring, and the 4.14-acre site is being prepared for the new, much more modern, Robinson Hall. The new building, expected to be completed in late 2021, will be home to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX). It will feature 30 classrooms and will total over 218,000 square feet, making it the largest academic building on the Fairfax Campus.

Oddly enough, the university was in the midst of building a large academic building almost exactly 45 years ago on the same 4.14 acres. And, oddly enough, it also was named Robinson Hall. That Robinson Hall, at 100,000 square feet, was less than half the size of the new project and contained 28 classrooms and 14 labs. While the former Robinson cost about $2.4 million to build, the new Robinson will total about $112 million. In June of 1974, the approximate date of the photograph below, the central part of Fairfax looked strikingly familiar to how it looks today.

Aerial photograph of George Mason University , Fairfax campus, 1974. Photo shows simultaneous construction work on Fenwick Library (at right), Academic II (bottom center), and Student Union (at left). George Mason University Facilities Management records #R0017, Box 139. Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

The new Robinson Hall and its surroundings will dramatically change the look of the center of campus. Gone will be the old Robinson Halls A and B, which were marked by the blocky Brutalist architecture of the last century. They will be replaced by a single building featuring sleek curves, brushed aluminum in places, energy-efficient green glass, and breathtaking landscape features.