Pulliam Hall is beginning to replace Old Main, the official SIUC landmark immortalized on the Board of Trustees seal, as the most distinguished campus landmark, University officials say.

Pulliam Hall is currently the official logo for the Alumni Association and is featured on their new Visa card.

Ed Berger, the Executive Director of the Alumni Association, said more alumni can relate to the image of Pulliam as representative of the Carbondale campus than any other building.

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Berger said Old Main, which burned down in 1969, does not represent the University to recent graduates.

Those who attended SIUC in the seventies and today never walked the halls of Old Main, he said. A landmark building needs to represent the University to all the alumni.

Berger said President Clinton’s advance team had a number of recommendations for the site of the President’s speech at SIUC in September, but they chose the area in front of Pulliam Hall. He said they chose it because it gave a traditional feel for the address and had an American college look.

A student government is also beginning to realize the importance of Pulliam as a campus landmark.

The Graduate and Professional Student Council recently allocated $500 to the SIU Alumni Association to put lights around the clock of Pulliam Hall to illuminate it at night.

Wednesday night at a meeting, GPSC President Bill Karrow said the clock has become a distinguished SIUC landmark since President Clinton’s visit and is now symbolic to the school. He said the allocated money is a gift to the University.

Greg Scott, Alumni Public Relations Director, said because Old Main burned down the school needed to find a new symbol.

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Pulliam Hall and SIUC are both rooted in education, Scott said.

Scott said Pulliam Hall is the most visible building on campus from a distance, and its clock tower is its most distinguishable feature.

Lee Tichenor, an academic advisor working on a dissertation about Roscoe Pulliam, said the building was constructed in 1954 to provide a modernized training school for teachers.

Tichenor said Pulliam, the sixth president of SIUC, was involved in securing the property and building design. She said construction was stopped on Pulliam Hall during World War II and was finished after Pulliam’s presidency.

Tichenor said Pulliam played an important part in the building’s construction, so the University decided to name the building after him.

Pulliam Hall underwent extensive remodeling from 1989-1991. Different colleges, such as english, political science and sociology use its facilities.

Old Main, pictured on the Board of Trustees seal, burned down on June 8, 1969, and authorities suspect arson though no one was ever charged. The building was almost completely destroyed, and its remains were torn down.