Clark Hall

Clark Hall is named for Arthur Lewis Clark, the American-born dean of the faculty who provided formative leadership from 1919 to 1943.

This limestone building was constructed between 1949 and 1951 on the west side of Campus Road (on a site formerly occupied by the Old Mill, a machine shop for engineering students) with money provided entirely by the engineering students, including a significant donation from the Fifth Field Company, a unit of Queen's students which served in WWI.

The street name is now Fifth Field Company Lane.

Clark Hall has been a home to several student-led enterprises. Its ground floor houses the Campus Bookstore, a non-profit provider of textbooks and other academic materials that was founded by two far-sighted engineering students in 1909. At that time, supplies such as drafting paper and notebooks were hard to come by in Kingston, and Tech Supplies, as it was first known, filled the gap. Still student-owned, the bookstore now has a permanent staff and is run by Queen’s University Engineering Society Services Inc.

For many years, Clark Hall was home to the Engineering Society before its offices moved into Beamish-Munro Hall.

Clark Hall’s top floor occupants include the Golden Words, a weekly humour newspaper that’s been giving its slanted view of Queen’s campus since 1967. On the other side is the aptly named Clark Hall Pub. Student owned and operated since it first opened its doors in 1973, it was inspired by Brian Sterling, a chemical engineering student and Engineering Society executive. Mr. Sterling wished that students had more chances to mingle with their professors outside of class and wanted to make a place where students could get to know the people behind the lecture podium.

The pub is still host to a number of regular events and live music, including some big name acts. The Tragically Hip once competed, and ultimately lost, in a Battle of the Bands for the honour of being named Clark Hall’s house band.

In front of Clark Hall, the large patio stones are painted with the emblem of each year’s graduating class. It’s a tradition that serves as a reminder of all that engineering students have brought to Clark Hall and the campus at large.

Clark Hall has been expanded several times: the first addition was completed in 1958 and the second in 1963.