Morton Hall, the oldest academic building on UAH’s campus, recently underwent a $30 million renovation and opened back up to UAH students, faculty, and staff this semester. The building is located on the north side of campus and is situated directly across from Frank Franz Hall and adjacent to the CTC.
Morton Hall is home to UAH’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and features many new amenities that UAH students, faculty, and staff can utilize. The building has new and renovated classrooms and seminar rooms, a 124 seat lecture hall, research labs, faculty offices, a Black Box Theatre, an outdoor amphitheater, study areas, and a courtyard in between the building and Frank Franz Hall. The 13 new classrooms and seminar rooms in total which feature new technology designed to make classes more collaborative. The Black Box Theatre has many new additions such as a catwalk, greenroom, and control room that makes it perfect for putting on a professional theater production. Morton Hall has a variety of seating options suitable for students of all majors. The courtyard in between Frank Franz and Morton offers students a place for students to spend time outdoors and to host outdoor student activities.
Morton Hall opened in 1960 and was the first major building and first academic building on UAH’s campus. The original building was only 72,000 square feet, but with the new addition to the building, it increased to about 110,000 square feet. While Morton Hall was being renovated for the past four years, the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences faculty offices were housed in the CTC.
Unlike previous buildings that housed the College of AHSS, the newly renovated Morton Hall features a unique set up for UAH faculty offices. Instead of organizing the UAH faculty offices by department, the new Morton Hall houses the department chairs’ offices in one main subsection of the building. The other faculty members’ offices are individually positioned, with no separation of departments.
Students in the College of AHSS are also very excited about the reopening of Morton Hall. “My favorite part about Morton Hall is the study areas because they are quiet and easy to focus in,” says Aundrea Alexander, a graphic design major.
The reopening and renovation of Morton Hall provides UAH faculty and students that are associated with the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences a new building to call home.
