休·吉利斯和他的大厅
我们自己的建筑
Much of the faculty energy in 1954-55 was spent in preparing for and executing a transition 从学期制到学期制. 由此引发的课程问题 shift were still being felt in 1962 when Gillis wrote his history of the department. During the post-war boom years of 1952-1954, the new Speech and Drama Building (now Hugh Gillis Hall) was planned and built at the juncture of 5th and San Fernando Street. Prior to that time the department had operated out of the Little Theatre located as 学院四合院中相连的建筑之一. 随着部门的发展， the scene shop, costume shop and several faculty offices were set up in Quonset huts 二战后获得的. 他们就在大楼外面，莫里斯的后面 Dailey礼堂. 从1941年起，休·吉利斯就成为了 construction of the new Speech and Drama Building at Fifth and San Fernando streets. It was completed in 1953 and dedicated in 1954, with a total area of 50,422 square 英尺的价格为1,284,866美元. 在新楼里特别重要的是收音机 电视演播室. The 1953 building was a single story structure; the second 后来又加了地板. 1982年，演讲及戏剧大楼重新落成 并以他的名字命名休·吉利斯·霍尔.
建筑行业的困境
Construction progress on the new building had not been without its difficulties, including a work stoppage following a breakdown of negotiations between the Association of General 北加州的承包商和劳联. 四千劳工 全县都参与了停工. 据报道，谈判破裂 to the contractors association, over union demands for a 15-cent an hour increase. 承包商提出每小时加薪10美分.
Another problem arose when 温德尔 Johnson, the department Scene Designer, returned from a sabbatical leave and toured the new theatre prior to the dedication of the 发现建筑存在严重的结构疏漏. 舞台上的房子有网格 to support the weight of scenery and lighting equipment that would be suspended from it. He pointed out, however, that the “strong-back,” two integral and major I-beams, 在施工阶段被忽略了吗. 堡垒是用来 the head-block pulleys to which all the cables from the pulleys located through-out the grid system were gathered to be controlled by a counter-weight “fly system” for raising and lowering scenery and lighting equipment prior to or during the performances. 飞行系统是剧院成功运作的主要必要条件. 温德尔 Johnson had pictures taken and eventually had to appear in Sacramento to plead for 额外的资金，以列入强背工字梁. 因此 疏忽，剧场不能使用，直到疏忽被纠正. 表演 were still presented in the old Little Theatre, forcing students to apply their make-up and put on their costumes and then, rain or shine, dash from the new building to the 校园对面的老剧院. 一旦批准，施工人员必须在上面凿洞 the roof and walls 建筑物的 in order to introduce the fifty-foot-long by two-foot-tall 工字钢进入建筑，并为它们提供支撑.
剧院最终以《lol菠菜网正规平台》的开幕演出开幕 哈姆雷特, featuring faculty and students in the cast and starring faculty member James Clancy.
火
The drama faculty held their weekly staff meetings in the department library during 12:30的午餐时间. 在1965年到1967年之间的某个时候，就在一次会议开始之后， student Stanley Anderson rushed into the room to announce that there was a fire in 剧院. 工作人员冲到剧院，和学生们一起“曼宁”。 的消防水龙带. 主丝绒幕布着火了，火焰已经点燃了 an accumulation of dust on the electric raceways, battens, and grid floor, setting 关闭了覆盖整个舞台的自动洒水系统. 我们中的许多人 hoping the backstage switchboard would be involved so that a new 一个 would be installed in the room at the back of the auditorium, as had been included in the original design 建筑物的.
没有这样的运气! 主要的损坏是幕和戏幕 considerable water damage to the scenery and equipment on stage and in the trap room beneath the stage where all the rugs, lighting equipment, stair units, and large props 存储. 所有的照明设备必须马上搬到舞台上 干燥以避免锈蚀. 这个过程需要几天的志愿者劳动.
All of the fuse links were replaced on all the sprinkler heads on stage, and then 消防检查员打开了舞台上的主阀门. 这是为了测试是否有些 洒水喷头被忽略了. 一切似乎都在运转. 几周 later, however, the Buildings and Grounds Department discovered that the main fire hose valve for the building had been turned off at the time of the fire but had not 再次被唤醒. 所以某个善良的灵魂把它打开了. 我们立刻发现 several sprinkler heads on stage had been missed when replacing fuse links, and we 又发生了一场小灾难.
洪水
Before San José became a town, the northwest corner of the current campus was a marsh 当地人过去常在哪里猎野禽. 当演讲和戏剧大楼正在 built, redwood pilings were driven down to bedrock to give a solid base to the building. (The same thing was d一个 when Walquist Library was built at a later date, but re-enforced 混凝土柱子被打入地面，取代了红木柱子.)本地的 这个地方的地下水位非常高. 通常在涨潮时，海水从 lawn sprinklers would not soak into the ground and the resulting layer of water on 只有退潮时，草才会消失. 因此，一个水泵是 installed in the paint 好吧 of the scene shop to evacuate water that would seep into 槽:雨季长而窄的四英尺高的槽. 它是由 an automatic switch, which meant that at any time during the day or night the pump would “kick in,” creating a loud racket that would echo throughout the back stage. In order to turn off the pump during performances, a by-pass cutoff switch was installed 在舞台旁边的商店里. 不幸的是，舞台管理人员有时会忽略 to turn the system back on, causing the water to accumulate in the 好吧 and create 霉味. 这是再次打开系统的信号.
Ken Dorst说:
During my career at San José State it was revealed that the city of San José and especially the downtown area had sunk on an average of 12 feet because of the overdrawing of 地下水. 一旦地面安定下来，就没有空间可以再填充了 雨水. 因此，水泵不经常被激活. 在20世纪70年代，我们 experienced a prolonged drought in the valley and the pump was no longer in action. 在干旱结束时，水开始补充地面盆地. 有一天我 把管弦乐队的电梯降到地下室去拿一些照明设备. 而下 below, I lifted the lid of the remote control outlet to insert the cable that raised 电梯. 我惊讶地发现一个镜面状的表面可以反射光线. We discovered that since the sump pump had dried out and was not working the water had filled the paint 好吧 and overflowed through a drainage pipe to the orchestra lift 好吧. 排水管的设计是为了应对紧急情况的拆除 电梯区有水. 它逆转了这个过程. 升降机的液压管 装满了水. 整个系统不得不重新整修，造成了极大的不便 到生产程序.
吉利斯辞职
After 18 years as department chair, Hugh Gillis resigned in 1955 for reasons of health. He was replaced by Harold Crain who brought with him a new emphasis on playwriting, 戏剧文学，以及戏剧人员更紧密的组织. 克雷恩承担了 curriculum revision, the addition of new faculty, development of Children's Theatre, 以及在演讲和戏剧大楼建造第二层. Dr. 病房 拉斯穆斯被任命为副主管. 休·吉利斯在工作了33年后于1962年退休 在系里任职一年. 演讲和戏剧大楼以休的名字重新命名 吉利斯是一种表达爱意和尊重的行为.1957年，本杰明·吉尔伯特写到 吉利斯的遗产在他的书中 百年拓荒者,声明
The department is 一个 of the largest in the West and has evolved into a cultural center 社区里的戏剧.
