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Explore > Great Lakes Naval Station, Building 42, Hostess House > Story Archives
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After Graduation...
Submitted by RenoKid, West
I Remember after our graduation from Boot Camp in 1957 We all went here to meet with our parents and friends that came for the ceremony. It is a memorable place that my family will never forget. After I had a family of my own we went back to the GLNTC and showed them around and where us sailors would spend our time and they were impressed with Bldg # 42...I hope it gets saved...
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Jeanne in Gurnee
Submitted by Jeanne, North Chicagoland
I was at an event at the base and for fun brought along a photograph of my Grandmother and her sister in their navy uniforms from the 1930's. I stopped by the museum and showed it to the curator and she made a copy of it and it now hangs in the museum. They were from Green Bay and the Navy was very important to them - my grandmother was a LT. Commander and was stationed at the base.
But no one in my family can see it until they move the museum to a location that civilians can see it, so please support the renovation so it can be moved!
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Great Lakes Naval Station
Submitted by Pat, North Carolina
I served for 24 year in the US Navy. Early in my career I was attending Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes, my most vivid memory was welcoming the POWs home from Viet Nam by lining the streets from the main entrance to the hospital waving flags and cheering as they arrived. It was a cold, long wait in the snow and wind, but well worth it when we saw their smiling faces. Please preserve the rich history of this Naval Base. I understand that this building will house a museum of naval history, which will be there for generations to come, thank you.
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Rehabilitation
Submitted by Jas, Chicago
After being wounded in combat, I was sent to Naval Hospital Great Lakes for treatment and rehabilitation. During my recovery, I often went to social event at Hostess House. It was very nice, relaxing place, especially during the winter when the had the fireplace ablaze.
As a former architectural engineering student I found the design modern but very pleasing. I think it would be a pity to lose such a great example of SOM design. Plus, it's open spaces would be a great place to house the base's history museum.
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Memories of Dancing
Submitted by Ruth, Evanston
I will never forget the wonderful times I had at the Hostess House in the 1960s. The Navy would have dances every Friday night for the junior enlisted Sailors and I and a bunch of my friends would go there and meet the most wonderful young men. Three quarters of the building would be opened for dancing and we had such a lovely time. The building had the most beautiful fireplace and I will never forget the gorgeous view looking out of the wall of windows. I specifically remember the fall foliage and the beautiful flowers along the ravine in the spring. How wonderful it is that the Great Lakes Naval Museum Association is trying to restore the building to the way it was more than 50 years ago.
- Ruth Beth, a 36-year employee at the Great Lakes Naval Base
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Rediscovering a Modern Masterpiece
Submitted by John, Evanston
Building #42 is a highly original design by one of America's most important architectural firms that practiced in the modernist style and expressed the forward thinking of the United States Navy. Newly rediscovered as the work of the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and designed by their young architect Gordon Bunshaft, this building is a seminal work which combines the lessons learned from the masters of modern architecture such as Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Marcel Breuer. Bunshaft combined elements of modernism in a wholly original manner, melding a two story building on pipe columns with a large hall spanned with laminated wood girders that slope upward in a dynamic fashion. Its large open greeting hall featured an enormous fireplace open on both sides with interior columns angled to support the great girders. Sometimes referred to as the Hostess House, this structure represented the future for young men and women who were stationed at Great Lakes.
- John Vinci, Architect
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