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The Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building, commonly known as Tech Tower, is an historic building located on the central campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Located on Cherry Street in Midtown Atlanta, the red brick, Victorian-style building serves as the architectural anchor of the Georgia Tech Historic District,^[1] a landmark of tradition and school spirit,^[2][3] and the administrative hub of the university.

Contents 1 History 2 Structure and appearance 2.1 Surroundings 3 Modern usage 4 Stealing the 'T' 4.1 Notable thefts 4.2 Institute reaction 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Tech Tower was completed in 1888 for a cost of $43,250 and originally named simply the Academic Building.^[4] It was designed by Bruce and Morgan, a well-known Atlanta-based architectural firm.^[5] As one of the first two structures built on the nine acre campus of what was then called the Georgia School of Technology, Tech Tower provided a venue for the earliest classroom instruction at Georgia Tech. When the other structure, a shop building, burned down in 1892, Tech Tower became the oldest building on the Georgia Tech campus, a distinction it continues to hold more than a century later.

On October 20, 1905, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Georgia Tech campus. On the steps of Tech Tower, Roosevelt presented a speech about the importance of technological education.^[6] He then shook hands with every student. ^[7]

Georgia Tech's Class of 1922 installed the famous TECH signs on all four sides of Tech Tower.^[8] The signs were originally made of wood and painted white and gold, the university colors. In the 1930s, lightbulbs were affixed to the signs to illuminate them more effectively than the earlier ground-based spotlights.^[8] In 1949, the TECH signs were supplemented by neon lighting in metal frames to give them their present appearance.^[8]

Tech Tower underwent extensive renovations in 1965, with a focus on remodeling the building's interior layout.^[5]

In 1978, Tech Tower and the surrounding Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Near the entrance to Tech Tower, a historical marker maintained by the Georgia Historical Society commemorates this listing as well as the early history of the Georgia Tech campus.

The Tech Tower Renovation, a restoration project, began in 1987, spearheaded by alumnus Eugene M. Clary's gift of new copper shingles with which to replace Tech Tower's aging roof tiles. One of these shingles and a small marker inside the Tech Tower entrance lobby commemorate Clary and his donation.

On May 22, 1998, Tech Tower was officially renamed the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building in a ceremony presided over by Tech president G. Wayne Clough.^[4] Although neither she nor her husbands attended Georgia Tech as a student, Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans was a longtime beneficiary of the university, contributing over $340 million through her philanthropic organization, the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation.^[9] As of 2006, Evans is the only woman to be recognized by Georgia Tech with a building named in her honor.^[9]

Tech Tower is built in the Victorian style with Romanesque Revival influences. The building's original specifications, according to Georgia Tech's first Annual Catalogue published in 1888, are listed as 130 feet wide and 120 feet deep.^[10] It is constructed primarily of red brick and trimmed with granite. The gabled roof, originally terra cotta, was later replaced by copper shingles. The main complex of the building stands four stories high plus a basement. The tower portion stands seven stories high and is topped with four lighted TECH signs (one on each side) and a high pitched roof. The main entrance to the building is accessed by ascending a small staircase and entering a small porch which forms the base of Tech Tower. Most of the building's windows are simple rectangular frames, with the exception of those on the third floor, which are arched. The entire complex sits on the crest of a hill, giving it the appearance of being larger than it actually is.

As Tech Tower is the oldest building on the Georgia Tech campus, it has accumulated a number of peripheral monuments and sites of interest over the years. Two walkways encircle the building, including the Tower Walk, donated by the Class of 1950 in 2000. Georgia Tech's first class memorial, a marble drinking fountain, was donated in 1911 by the Class of 1903 and is situated east of Tech Tower's main entrance. Also near the main entrance to Tech Tower is a marbled pair of benches donated by the Class of 1925 in memory of those who died in World War I. A few feet away stands a marbled bench memorial to Paul Howes Norcross, a 1902 Georgia Tech alumnus and former ASCE president who perished in the Norman boat disaster of May 8, 1925. The headstone of Sideways the dog is located near Tech Tower's rear entrance, as is an informational placard detailing Tech Tower's early history, donated by the Class of 1932. Finally, and perhaps most notably, the Georgia Tech steam whistle sits prominently at the top of the hill near Tech Tower.

As its official name suggests, Tech Tower is primarily used for administrative purposes. It houses the Office of the Registrar, the Office of Capital Planning and Space Management (CPSM), the Internal Auditing Department, and offices for the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL). In addition, the deans of the College of Engineering and College of Sciences maintain office space in Tech Tower.

Tech Tower is considered an iconic representation of Georgia Tech and, more generally, higher education in Atlanta. It is often featured in marketing materials and merchandise for the university and its silhouette is recognized throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area. Kessler Campanile, a stylized bell tower built on the Georgia Tech campus as part of an Institute-wide branding campaign in the mid-1990s, was designed to look like a modernized version of Tech Tower.^[11] The campanile is now featured in all Georgia Tech logos, though some have argued that Tech Tower itself would be a more appropriate symbol.^[3]

See also: Georgia Tech traditions

A number of times, students have orchestrated complex plans to steal the huge, symbolic letter 'T' on the Tech Tower's TECH signs, sometimes called climbing. The 'T' is then returned at the halftime of the homecoming football game, and the students' achievement celebrated. Tradition dictates that the first 'T' to be stolen should be the one facing east, as this can most easily be seen from the Downtown Connector.^[12]

The 'T' was first stolen in April of 1969 by a secret group of Georgia Tech students calling themselves the "Magnificent Seven."^[13] The students, who were inspired by a similar prank that had taken place in 1968 at Harvard University, planned the theft as a means of commemorating Institute President Edwin D. Harrison's retirement. The 'T' was returned several days later via helicopter at the behest of Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen.^[14] The 'T' was stolen from the north face of Tech Tower on November 9, 1997. Five students were caught by Georgia Tech police and required to pay $2,446.75 each in damages, although criminal charges were not filed.^[15] The same 'T' was stolen again in 2001 by three students, two of whom were found guilty of numerous conduct code violations by the Undergraduate Judiciary Cabinet and subsequently suspended.^[16] In October 2005, a replica of the T was stolen from the Student Services Building and returned two days later.^[17]

In February 2006, it was noticed that small vinyl 'T' stickers were being stolen from informational signs located around the Georgia Tech campus, creating a source of confusion for visitors and new students.^[18]

The Georgia Tech administration's position on stealing the 'T' from Tech Tower has been varied. When the 'T' was first stolen in 1969, interim Institute President Vernon Crawford was so upset he considered canceling classes until it was returned. Afterwards, subsequent presidents opted to turn a blind eye to the practice, with one president, John Patrick Crecine, going so far as to endorse it.^[14]

“

I think stealing the ‘T’ off the Tech Tower is among the all-time greatest rituals.

”

Today, stealing the 'T' is prohibited and is officially punishable with expulsion, although this has not actually happened in practice. After a Georgia Tech visitor was accidentally killed while climbing the Alexander Memorial Coliseum in 1999^[19], Institute President G. Wayne Clough banned stealing of the 'T' and the climbing of any Institute building, due to the risk of fatal falls and the potential for damage to the building.^[20] Clough also expressed concern over the "incredibly expensive liability litigation" Georgia Tech could face in the event of an accident.^[13] To discourage climbing, security features such as pressure-sensitive roof tiling, fiber optic cabling running throughout the letters, and an audible alarm have been added to the 'T' to help prevent its theft.^[21]

• Georgia Institute of Technology Historic District

• TowerWeb: Historic Images and Information about the Georgia Tech Towers
• Tech Tower on the Georgia Tech Campus Map

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 33.772356° -84.394838°
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