The Victoria College, 1925-2000: A Tradition of Excellence

Also of utmost importance to the board was
the selection of a site for the college. Aloe Field
kept cropping up in the trustees’ conversations.
The closed airfield seemed at first to be the logical
location. However, at the suggestion of
Moore, the base was dropped from the list of
prospective locations. The junior college president-elect
pointed out that the college would be
stuck with old buildings that would retard or
prevent the development of a quality educational
institution demanded by the board and community.
It was the opinion of Moore that the taxpayers
would not support a bond issue to
replace “run down” buildings. Other drawbacks
to Aloe Field were that it was too far from town,
and the War Assets Administration reserved the
right to regain ownership of the property. 57
The board also considered, at the suggestion
of Fred Proctor, land owned by Tom O’Connor,
Sr., that faced Laurent Street and was between
Airline Road and Mesquite Lane, presently the
site of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church
and the Town Plaza Shopping Center. Proctor
looked into the possible purchase and received
information that thirty acres were available.
However, the board did not follow up with an
offer. Instead, the trustees turned their attention
to an area that lay southeast of the
O’Connor land. 58
Vice president Winston Zirjacks brought to
the attention of the trustees that the Brownson
Home, a charitable organization, possessed
property located north of the old Edna Highway,
a half mile east of the city limits and north of the
Boulevard Addition, it would sell. Thereafter,
the board was consumed in buying the
Brownson Home land. On August 27, 1948, the
governing body adopted a motion to purchase
forty acres of the 160 acre Brownson Home tract
for $500.00 per acre. Moore reported to the
board on September 28 that the transaction with
the seller had been completed on September 25.
The arrangement provided for the purchase of
40.023 acres at a cost of $20,011.50. 59
After securing the site, the board next ventured
into the construction of an administration
building. The architectural firm of Leffland and
Ault was hired to draft a plan for the building
that contained approximately 24,000 square
feet “and will provide space for administrative
offices, library, science and mathematics departments,
business administration, art, social science
and language arts departments.” When the
drawings for the structure were completed, they
were placed out for bids. On November 9, E. J.
Gerdes of Victoria was awarded the contract to
construct the building. His bid of $208,980 was
the lowest of the seven that were submitted. The
work was to begin immediately. 60
Anticipating the construction and the eventual
annexation of the college property, the city
laid a six-inch water main to the campus. Since
the building program was on a fast tract, V. E.
Atkinson, city water superintendent, used “all of
the city water department crew” to lay the pipe.
Subsequently, August Grath, Victoria County
Commissioner, prepared the adjoining streets
for paving. 61
As soon as the board awarded the contract
for the construction of the administration building,
it commenced the process to construct the
student union/gymnasium, reviewing blueprints
drawn by Leffland and Ault. At a special board
meeting on February 10, 1949, Baass Brothers
Concrete Company received the right to build
the student union/gymnasium for $136,000.
The structure was to be completed before school
opened in September. 62
The board planned to construct two additional
buildings, an industrial arts shop and a
homemaking cottage. The industrial arts building
was to house “a drafting room, wood shop,
metal shop, lecture room and offices for the
director of the veterans vocational program
and the dean of the evening and adult school.”
Low bidder on the project was D. W. Marshall
who submitted a figure of $74,500. The last of
the original four buildings to go out for bids
was the homemaking cottage. The structure
was to consist of some 3,000 square feet of
floor space and was to “house clothing and
food labs, dining room, living room, two
porches, office space and storage facilities.”
Baass Brothers Concrete Company with a bid
of $54,000 became the general contractor to
construct the cottage and erect covered walkways
connecting the four buildings. The covering
shielded students and faculty from the torrential
rains that occasionally visited the area
and became closely identified with the educational
institution. As the years went by and the
campus grew, these protected walkways
Adios, Patti Welder ✦ 63