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Greater South Bend Region's Ultimate Guide to Arts & CultureTuesday Feb 07, 2012South Bend Area Weather

    Venue Directory

    Washington Hall


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    Ever since the university's earliest years, the site of Washington Hall has been associated in the minds of Notre Dame students, alumni, faculty and staff with music, entertainment and recreation. In the nineteenth century, Notre Dame was a small and very much self-contained institution. As early as 1846, the combination of a recognition that Notre Dame would have to provide its own entertainment and a French-inspired appreciation for the fine, dramatic and musical arts led the university's founders to reserve a building for artistic instruction and performance. The original music hall, which stood on the site next to the Administration Building now occupied by Washington Hall, was a two-story clapboard building. It housed classrooms and practice rooms as well as facilities for lectures, concerts and campus assemblies. The building played a major role in the life of Notre Dame throughout the early years.