Dearmont Hall has been a recognizable landmark on SEMO’s campus for over six decades. Students walking to Kent Library or classes at Grauel have become familiar with its windowed brick walls. However, this landmark of SEMO culture will soon be gone, making way for the new Roy Blunt Health Professions Hall.
60 years ago, Albert Hall was an aging building on campus and needed to be replaced. Dearmont was the proposed solution, according to Normal to University: A Century of Service by Arthur H. Mattingly. The building was named after former SEMO president W.S. Dearmont. The first cornerstone of the building was laid in a ceremony on Oct. 3, 1959, with remarks given by the late president’s son, Russell L. Dearmont.
Known as the Dearmont Quadrangle, the structure was constructed as a women’s science, physical education, music and dormitory. On Jan. 3, 1960, the first group of women moved into Dearmont, with the other parts of the building to be finished later that year.
More recently, the coordinator of the historic preservation program in the Department of History and Anthropology, Dr. Steven Hoffman, led a group of students on a tour of Dearmont as part of this historic preservation project headed by the Center for Regional History. It provided a learning opportunity for everyone involved, not just the students involved directly with the project.
“Even though the whole building is coming down, it still was a great opportunity to be able to see a building in its natural state,” Hoffman said. “Also to give students an experience examining a modern style building made out of modern materials.”
After several years, Dearmont transitioned to a co-ed dormitory by floor. Some offices, such as the Department of Public Safety (DPS), were moved into the building over time, according to Hoffman. Eventually, Dearmont was taken offline but was then used for student COVID quarantining during the height of the pandemic.
After the quarantines stopped, Dearmont was left empty and is used only for drills by the Cape Girardeau fire and police departments, according to sophomore historic preservation major Dawson Berglund.
There were several problems with the building that made it an ideal candidate for being demolished. The first was the HVAC system, which relied on radiant heat, where the warm water pipes were on the concrete floor, according to Hoffman. This made renovation extremely difficult. Dearmont was also built without air conditioning, so individual units were put around the building.
The second was asbestos which was found all over the building and was common in structures of that era, according to senior historic preservation major Mercy Woodman.
Berglund, who is part of the preservation project, mentioned that there would be extensive photo documentation as well as artifacts from Dearmont.
“We are assembling character-defining features of the space,” Berglund said. “We are taking out some light fixtures, preserving some of the tiles of the mosaics that are in there. So taking some cool artifacts from Dearmont and putting those in the archives and the little exhibit space in the new Health Sciences building.”
The exhibit space will feature photos of Dearmont, some remaining artifacts, and even the cornerstone from when it was first laid.
These artifacts will be a simple reminder of the years of memories that Dearmont has brought to SEMO’s campus. Anyone with specific memories or experiences from Dearmont is encouraged to contact Dr. Hoffman at shoffman@semo.edu.
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