A few years ago, the University decided it needed a campus center and Palmer Hall was the logical choice since it was pretty much in the center of campus! But before Palmer could be converted to the Frist Campus Center, something had to be done about the teaching space that would be lost. So McDonnell Hall, the building on the right, was constructed. It contains two big lecture halls, a lecture preparation area, ten classrooms, five lab rooms and a lab preparation area. It's used mostly for introductory math and physics courses.

The Calder sculpture in the center has some history. First, two construction workers were killed during setup when a crane collapsed on them. There's a memorial plaque in the courtyard. Second, it's called "Three Orange Discs." The three discs (one of which can be seen in the picture) were originally painted orange. When Calder came to see the finished sculpture, he changed his mind and had them painted black.