Named for:  The Evans family, probably Silas Evans, 1898 graduate and President of the College from 1911 to 1917, and from 1921 to 1943. (Tomkies, p. 6, says that it was named for a nephew of President Evans, Edward S. Evans, by his father, Curtis A. Evans, M.D., a prominent Milwaukee physician, who wished to commemorate his son.

Location:  Bordered by Seward Street on the north and Thorne Street on the south. To the west is Johnson Hall; to the east, Hughes House

Date of Construction:  1939

Architect: Originally designed by Thomas Tallmadge, a well-known Chicago architect, as part of the Tallmadge Plan – an attempt to plot the physical expansion of the campus – which the Board of Trustees endorsed in 1938. The Tri-Dorms were the only buildings designed by Tallmadge and located according to his plan. 

Cost:  160,000

Capacity: 32

Former Uses:  The Tri-Dorms (total capacity: 102) were originally men’s dormitories, with Evans Hall Housing Theta Sigma Tau fraternity (later Sigma Nu, and again renamed Theta Sigma Tau).

Present Uses:  Since World War II, the Tri-Dorms have housed freshmen women.

Alterations:  In 1988, under President Stott, the Tri-Dorms underwent a $3 million renovation and, as one Then-freshman put it, deserve the name “Tri-Condos.” Installations in 1988 included kitchens, Music practice rooms, silent-typing rooms, exercise rooms, computer rooms and lounges.

References:  Pictorial Review, p.10; Fact Sheet, p.1; Ripon College: A History. pp.141, 187.