Laws Hall (University of Missouri)

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Laws Hall was a residence hall at the University of Missouri. It stood at 1005 Tiger Ave, at the corner of Tiger Avenue and Kentucky Boulevard, and covered about 72,871 square feet on 9 floors plus a basement. Built in 1957 as a women’s dorm, it later became a co-ed residence hall and housed students until the end of the 2015–2016 academic year. The building was demolished in March 2017 as part of the university’s plan to renew its residence halls.

Before Laws Hall, the area was called Fairway Village, a field of trailers that began in 1946 for returning veterans and their families. As the need for trailers declined in the 1950s, the site was developed for traditional dorms, including Laws along with Lathrop and Jones Halls.

Renovations in 2003 updated windows, repaired exterior brick, improved community bathrooms and the electrical system, and added air conditioning in each room.

Plans for Laws changed over the years. It closed for the 2016–2017 year and was demolished in March 2017, after Jones and Lathrop Halls had already been demolished earlier. Laws was named after Samuel Spahr Laws, MU president from 1876 to 1889. He supported science and helped establish a school of engineering and Laws Observatory in 1877, funded by his own money and including the Thomas Jefferson headstone. His presidency was autocratic and opposed admitting women, leading to friction with students and faculty. He resigned in 1889 following a scandal over buying the carcass of a circus elephant named Emperor after lawmakers refused to pay for it.