From time to time, I get questions about what a certain office, location, or building use to be prior to its current function. These are always fun to answer and usually provide a sense of institutional history to the person who asked the question.

A recent donation by the AHC Office of Facilities & Capital Planning to the archives has made this task even easier. Pictured is a 239 page listing of each room and its use in the health sciences complex from February 1982. The document, titled “Current Assignment of Health Science Space: Detail by Building and Room,” is particularly helpful because it provides information on how the Mayo Memorial Building served as both a patient care facility as well as research/office space prior to the construction of the new hospital in 1986.

A few examples include:

In 1982 Room #602 in Children’s Rehab Center was a faculty office. Today it is my office.

In 1982 Rooms #605-607C in Mayo were Psychiatry faculty offices located near patient rooms. Today it is the Medical School Dean’s office.

In 1982 395A Mayo was a Coffee Shop. Today it is the AHC Office of Communications office.

With this handy reference tool, feel free to ask “What did this place used to be?”