A statue of Katherine Kemp and Margaret Corbet greets people as they approach the TransAlta Student Commons building along the Aadland Esplanade on the Centralia College campus in this February 2017 Chronicle file photo.
The center of Centralia College has been dedicated as Ward Plaza to honor Steve Ward, a former student and longtime vice president of finance and administration at the college who worked steadfastly with presidents to create the beautiful campus we have today.
Buildings and pathways on the 40-acre campus honor former presidents—Hanson Hall (Nels Hanson), Kirk Library (Henry Kirk), Walton Science Center (James Walton)—and longtime faculty members such as Kemp Hall (Katharine Kemp) and the Aadland Esplanade (Gordon Aadland).
The faculty, the students, the architecture, and the artwork all combine on campus to give Centralia College a “spirit of place,” which Kirk explained in several presentations earlier this year, including one at the St. Helens Club in Chehalis.
“Every college and university has a spirit of place,” Kirk said. “The campus environment plays an important part. It’s the institutional gestalt.”
When he arrived as interim president in 1986, Kirk recalled a collection of low buildings with streets running through campus. But he grew enthusiastic after meeting the faculty, staff, and community members who loved the college with its rich history.
The college, which started in 1925 on the third floor of the old Centralia High School, eventually had its own building. When the old high school was torn down in 1969, Jim Stiltner saved the sandstone columns in front of the brick building. In 1994, he donated them back to the college. They stand behind the Health and Wellness Center near their original location as part of the old Centralia High School in what is known as Heritage Court, where small trees planted in 1944 now loom large.
A gymnasium, constructed in an art-deco style in 1936 and remodeled extensively in 2008 into the Health and Wellness Center, set the tone for other building construction on campus.
Kirk and his team worked with Seattle architect David Leavengood, whose wife is an art critic, to design a new library and later Washington Hall. Construction followed a similar theme, creating consistency and enhancing the spirit of place.
“What we’re doing is celebrating our heritage,” Kirk said. “So don’t forget that somebody was here before you.”
Inside Hanson Hall, he said, is an intricate wooden ceremonial mace created in 1993 by two former faculty members and talented woodworkers, Bill Batie and Bob MacCannell. Since 1994, the Centralia College Ceremonial Mace has been carried by the senior faculty member at commencement ceremonies, Kirk said.
Outside Hanson Hall stands a monument, featuring bronze boots and textbooks on top of a stone base, dedicated in 2012 called Boots to Books, honoring those who return to college after serving in the military.
The college entryway welcomes visitors and establishes the spirit of place, Kirk said. He noted one of the earliest pieces of art, the 1963 nail sculpture created by art teacher Bob Bauer and his students is displayed in the student center.
Another sculpture, dedicated in 1995 during the college’s 70th anniversary celebration and paid for through the Art in Public Places Program, is called “Crosscut,” created by bronze sculptor Gerard Tsutakawa. It represents part of an old-growth tree with a square window resembling a computer screen. It’s a favorite place for people to have their photo taken.
Inside the library, constructed in art-deco style, are the colorful Alden Mason murals, which were commissioned by the state Legislature to grace the state Capitol’s Senate chamber. Mason created them by spraying hundreds of colors of acrylic paint in squiggles onto plywood boards, but some found the two lunettes representing Eastern and Western Washington too vibrant for the solemn legislative building. Kirk negotiated with the state to have the murals moved to Centralia when the library was constructed.
“Centralia is the city of murals,” Kirk said. “We need those murals right here.”
The clocktower near the center of campus on the Aadland Esplanade was erected in 1991 at a cost of $50,000, with panels added in 1997 at the base highlighting the diversity of Northwest men and women who made significant contributions to the world. Those on the panel include the Cowlitz tribe, choreographer Merce Cunningham, Hazel Pete, Billy Frank, Jimi Hendricks, Gov. Dixie Lee Ray, and George and Mary Washington, founders of Centralia.
The clock tells time and chimes, adding to the Spirit of Place, Kirk said. Steel recently replaced wooden beams in the clocktower, which was increased in height by ten feet to more than forty feet.
Adna artist Jim Stafford created a life-sized bronze sculpture called “Keep the Doors Open,” dedicated in 2014, which features Margaret Corbet, the college’s first principal, and Katharine Kemp, dean of students. The two women, depicted in 1930s dresses, kept the college doors open during tough times in the Depression and World War II.
“Those who don’t remember the past don’t deserve to be remembered for posterity,” Kirk said.
Stones outside the Walton Science Center, dedicated in June 2014, represent earth, wind, and water, Kirk said. The Kiser Natural Outdoor Learning Lab, or KNOLL, which sits across from the science building, enables students to identify local plants growing in the Kiser Northwest Garden, dedicated in 2012 to late longtime botany professor Rufus Kiser.
South of the Kiser Northwest Garden lies Washington Hall and the “Reach for the Stars” statue at its north entrance. Stafford created the bronze in honor of his son, Chris, who died in 1995. It was unveiled in August 2001.
Inside the 66,000-square-foot building is more artwork—a photo display featuring dance choreographer Merce Cunningham, a portrait of Margaret Corbet painted by Robert Neal, traveling art displays, and a terrazzo floor mural called “The Neighborhood” that shows Centralia, Lewis County, Washington, the United States, the world, and the universe.
“Art is important,” Kirk said. “It pleases the eye. It creates a mood. It lifts our spirits sometimes. It stimulates our imagination.”
The 500-seat Corbet Theatre features among the most controversial artwork on campus, “The Twelve Labors of Hercules” murals created by artist Michael Spafford for the state House of Representatives. Controversy arose when several lawmakers objected to the abstract style and others saw pornographic images in the murals. The artist described his creation as site-specific and insisted the murals should remain at the state Capitol, but college officials prevailed in court and they were installed in the theatre designed by the architect to accommodate them.
“Either you love them or you hate them … or you’re tolerant,” Kirk said.
The TransAlta Commons, the newest building on campus, and now Ward Plaza add even more to the institutional gestalt.
“It has the feel of a campus, a spirit of place,” he said.
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
