Environmental Health Sciences – UGA 1050 (1939, Category 2). The Environmental Health Sciences Building was constructed in 1939 as the Dairy Sciences Building, contributing to the agricultural theme of South Campus. Like the Forestry Building adjacent to it, the Dairy Sciences Building faced Agricultural Drive (now Brooks Mall) and was part of the New Deal-era expansion on South Campus planned and designed by Rudolph Driftmier and Roy Hitchcock with federal funding.
The Environmental Health Sciences Building is three stories tall with its primary floor at the second level. The building is similar in form and character to the Forestry Building, though simpler in detail. It has a tall, narrow entrance portico recessed into its symmetrical west elevation featuring painted brick and stucco. The building has a stucco-covered ground floor level with brick above and is topped with an asphalt shingle gable roof with a projecting cornice.
The three-story building is T-shaped in plan, with the short leg of the T at the rear. A long one-story wing is located at the south end and rear of the building and is probably original, making the overall building plan L-shaped. The wing appears on the 1942 plan of the campus. An elevator shaft and other additions have been added to the rear of the building.
Most significantly, the Environmental Health Sciences Building retains its original metal windows, which are important character-defining features. The windows are rusting in some places and in need of maintenance. Unit air conditioners have been installed in some windows. The building is in good overall condition and is significant to the New Deal period of the University’s history and appears to contribute to a National Register-eligible historic district. It is assessed as a Category 2 resource.
