by Brian Sabath ‘17
As students walk to their class on the third floor of the Main Building, they might not even notice the door to the right of the Main Stairway. Or when students are running late to their fifth floor art class, they might not see the extra set of stairs that lead to the top of the St. Ignatius Tower. Whether or not students notice these secret rooms, they are there, each with its own mystery.
Few students are aware of what lies behind the door next to the Main Stairway on the third floor of the Main Building. There is an elevator, as well as a door on the right side of the room. The door, the bigger enigma, leads to the roof of the Math Wing and Library. Though students are not allowed to use the door, maintenance workers use it as a means to get to the roof to clean.
Furthermore, many students do not realize that there is a sixth floor to the Main Building. The Tower Conference Room is located on the sixth floor of the Main Building, used primarily for important meetings for Father Murphy. If any teacher wishes to use this room, requests need to be approved by the President’s office. Before being used as the Tower Conference Center, the sixth floor served as attic space and a weather observation deck. In the late 1890’s, six Jesuits a day would go to the very top of the Main Building and record the weather patterns by looking out the windows and scanning the horizon.
So, next time you are headed to Main Building classes, or walking across the Quad, look up and try to spot these secret rooms, and be happy you don’t have to record Cleveland’s weather patterns on a cold, wintery day.
