“The concept of adaptive reuse intrigued me to look at some buildings more closely.  For example, what used to be the old campus for the Mankato State University Teachers College is now the Blue Earth County Government Center.  The Mankato State Teachers College was authorized by the state in 1921 to present a four-year curriculum.  In 1922, the first Old Main building was destroyed by fire.  As a result, the state legislature responded in 1924 by accepting funds for a new building, which was also called “Old Main.”  Afterwards, student enrollment averaged from 600 to 700 students between 1930 and 1945.  The student population in the 1950’s stressed the capacity of the early campus.  For this reason, on the hilltop looking over Mankato, the construction of a new campus started.  “Mankato State Teacher’s College” formally became “Mankato State College” in April of 1957.  The Wilson Campus School was the primary academic building for the new campus.  The Lincoln Library and an addition to the Nichols Hall were finished in the Valley Campus.  From 1973 to 1978, Douglas Moore was president, and has been attributed with the 1978 to 1979 transfer and organization of the highland area of all of the events on the two campuses.  Therefore, the need for the Valley Campus no longer exists.  Several of the buildings on the Valley Campus presently exist, but they have different private and public needs.  Both, the old Main Annex and the Physical Education Building, are no longer standing where they were.  However, the few buildings that did make it are the Lincoln Library, the Old Main, and the Nichols Science and Arts building.  They currently operate with new owners, changed names, and interiors that have been remodeled.  The Nichols building is currently an office complex; the “Old Main” administrative building is now the “Old Main Village,” a retirement community; and the Lincoln Library was transformed to the Blue Earth County Government Center (Available: http://www.mnsu.edu/dept/univops/history/).  Adaptive reuse has indeed occurred between the old campus and the Blue Earth County government buildings.”