Wilma Bowline’s wish came true.

“For years, I walked past these arches and thought to myself, ‘I hope they’re never torn down. They’re so beautiful,'” said Bowline, a retired Kansas University speech and language pathology professor, shortly after formal dedication ceremonies Saturday for the new Hall Center for the Humanities.

Stanley Lombardo, KU professor of classics, delivers his poem Summoning

The 14,700-square-foot building incorporates the original limestone arches from the university’s original power plant, built in 1887.

“I’m so glad they used them in the new design,” said Bowline, who taught in nearby Haworth Hall for 23 years, from 1963 to 1986.

She wasn’t alone. Don Hall, chairman of the board of directors of Hallmark Cards, also embraced the building’s one-of-a-kind architecture.

“I love the building,” Hall said, “and I love it’s saving of history. This is a structure, a piece of architecture that is most unique and most meaningful to Kansas.”

Records show the power plant was one of five buildings on the KU campus — only Bailey Hall still stands — designed by John G. Haskell. Other Haskell projects: KU’s original Fraser Hall and Snow Hall, the east wing of the Kansas Statehouse, Haskell Indian Nations University’s auditorium, and the Douglas and Chase county courthouses.

For the power plant, Haskell replicated the facade of a ninth-century Spanish palace that was converted to a church, Santa Maria de Naranco, in the 13th century.

Much of the power plant was destroyed by fire after being struck by lightning in 1898. The arches are the oldest structure on the KU campus.

Adele Hall, Don Hall and Barbara Marshall, from left, stand in front of the recently completed Hall Center for the Humanities, 900 Sunnyside Ave., after Saturday's dedication ceremony.

The new building’s costs were underwritten by a $4.07 million gift to the KU Endowment Association from the Hall Family Foundation, $1.89 million in state funds and $260,000 in private donations.

The Hall Center for the Humanities is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to literature, history, philosophy, language and art.

Beneath one of the building’s interior arches is a Socrates quotation — “The unexamined life is not worth living” — that Hall Center director Victor Bailey said summarizes the center’s mission.

“We find meaning in our lives through reflection and examination, seeking to understand how events, people and experiences have influenced us for better or for worse,” said Bailey, addressing an outdoor assembly of about 80 well-wishers.

“The Hall Center is where we hope to promote the examined life,” he said.

Bailey said the nine arches symbolized the nine muses of Greek mythology.

“The building stands as a metaphor for the humanities, making the heritage of the past relevant to contemporary issues,” he said. “We go through the old to get to the new.”

The Hall Family Foundation commissioned Stan Lombardo, a classics professor at KU, to write a poem commemorating the new building. Lombardo read the poem during a luncheon before the dedication.

“It was so appropriate and so beautiful, I was moved to tears,” said Marilyn Gridley, a retired KU art history professor.

6News video: Many gather for dedication of KU’s Hall Center Audio: Stan Lombardo reads his poem, “Summoning the Muses to the Hall Center.” World Online: Panorama — Outside of the Hall Center for the Humanities World Online: Panorama — Entrance of the Hall Center for the Humanities World Online: Panorama — Hall Center for the Humanities’ main conference room World Online: Panorama — Upstairs of the Hall Center for the Humanities