To ease the overcrowding at the Main Building (now Carnegie Library) a second building was proposed for animal research at the Station for Experimental Evolution. In the 1911 Annual Report of the Carnegie Institution, it was stated that it "became necessary to have a building that could be used for chemical studies on mammals and for operating upon them," which would relieve "the Main Building of the dirt that is inseparable from their culture." The design of Animal House may have been inspired by the brick and stucco Stazione Zoologica in Naples, Italy, which Director Davenport had visited several years before. The plans for building Animal House went through several changes before the building was completed in 1914. The First Floor Plan shown above was part of the second proposal by the architectural firm Peabody, Wilson & Brown, which was chosen to complete the building. As indicated, there were rooms for breeding dogs, cats, fish, and sheep on the first floor. The second floor included a pigeon room, operating room, hospital, and laboratories.
|