Although classes have been taking place inside Lincoln Hall since August, alumni visiting for Homecoming Weekend were able to see the building’s renovations for the first time at an open house Saturday.

Events at the open house included self-guided tours of the building and a performance by the Marching Illini. Chancellor Phyllis Wise and Mike Bohlmann, LAS alumnus and director of information technology in the College of Media, sealed a time capsule that will be placed inside the building at a rededication ceremony this February.

Representatives from the college of LAS selected five items to put into the capsule from a list of ideas submitted by students, faculty and alumni.

“About 150 ideas were submitted, and then a committee of us chose what were the most practical, what would actually fit in the time capsule and what seemed to be the most popular,” said Holly Rushakoff, media communications specialist in LAS.

In an online contest, students, faculty and alumni then voted on their favorite item. The prize, which Bohlmann won for his idea of putting in Lincoln Hall historical photos, was the chance to seal the capsule with the chancellor. All of the top five items made it into the capsule as well; the college also received donated items.

Some items included the original iClicker, which was developed in the University Department of Physics, a sensor chip to represent discoveries in nanotechnology, corn from the morrow plots, a scroll signed by current students who wrote about their daily lives on campus and a list of ideas for objects to be put in the capsule because not everything could fit.

The capsule will be opened in 2063, giving current students time to become alumni and visit campus again, like those who did so Saturday.

Many graduates along with their families filtered through the building, getting a chance to see their old classrooms and rub the nose of the statue of Abraham Lincoln for good luck, a long-lived tradition at the University.

“It’s fabulous, seeing the historic preservation aspects of it mixed in with the new modernization technology for classrooms,” said Deb Kimme, Associate Director of alumni relations and special events, who organized the open house, “We’re very glad to have the alumni come back.”

Joel Portzer, a 2002 LAS alumnus, said he appreciated the renovations but was disappointed at some of the major changes.

“I liked it all dark and crappy,” he said. “That’s how I remember it!”

Portzer said he visited one of his old classrooms and found it completely changed. Ruth Watkins, dean of LAS, said Lincoln Hall brings back memories for many students.

“There’s a lot of sentimental draw for people because just about everybody had a class in Lincoln Hall some time during their undergrad years,” Watkins said. “For a lot of students, very important things happened to them in this building.”

Being able to see the renovated building, Kimme said, was a way to “(take) them back to their day here on campus.”

Maddie can be reached at [email protected].