Historical Campus Tour

Lewis Center

Lewis Center is located off campus, at 725 Kingsland Avenue in University City. The building is named for Edward Gardner Lewis, the founder of University City. It was built in 1909 to house the Academy of Fine Arts of the American Woman's League - the art division of Lewis' "People's University". Lewis' art school closed in 1914, and the building was sold in 1915 to the University City School District, where it became Luther Ward Junior High School.

The building was used by the school district until 1982. In 1983, the building was purchased by a local development firm. From 1984 to 1998, the University leased the building for use by the School of Art. In the Fall of 1998, the University purchased Lewis Center from the developer, in order to insure that students in the School of Art would continue to have classroom and studio space.

Lewis Center, a Classic Revival structure designed by the firm of Eames and Young, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.