Tourist Office
LASEC
Joliet - Illinois

Cook Hall

1. Shannon
2. Lockport, Il - Will County
3. smlough@ilstu.edu 
4. Illinois State University - www.ilstu.edu 
5. Cook Hall - Bloomington, Illinois

Cook Hall is the oldest building on the Illinois State University Quad, originally built to be a gymnasium but used today as the music building. It was officially named after the University's fourth president, Jesse Williston Cook, but has also been known as the "Old Castle" or "The Gymnasium." Students have been known to say that every other state school in Illinois has a "castle" building on its quad as well, but this has yet to be confirmed. It is true that the Governor at the time liked medieval castle buildings and insisted that the construction of any new state buildings during his term resemble castles. These buildings together are known as "Altgeld's Folly," named after the passionate Governor.