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University (Ruthven) Museums Building
University Museums Building (1928) Bentley Historical Library Photo: BL001769 Ruthven Museum Today	With the limited amount of space for the natural history museums in 1917, it became necessary to provide a new facility for exhibitions and storage if the collections were to increase. Albert Kahn was hired to design a new museum that would be located on the corner of what is today North University Avenue. The building was completed in 1926 at the cost of $724,952.[99] The overall shape of the building is a “V.” This shape became distorted when a later addition was added. The museum is four stories in height with a projecting basement on the back end. The exterior style hints of Roman Renaissance with its tall engaged columns on the front entrance.[99] The lower level and entablature along the room has a Bedford limestone facing with brick on the second, third, and fourth levels. The windows are separated by brick piers with a few made of limestone near the center of each wing. The structure is built of reinforced concrete columns so that walls can be adjusted to accommodate changing displays without compromising the structure. Several decorative elements grace the front entrance such as two masonry heads depicting pioneer American naturalists as well as bas reliefs of animals indicating the purpose of the museum.[99] Other decorative elements include the bronze doors of the main entrance between two black puma sculptures. Besides exhibition space, the museum also contains research space and laboratories for specimen study or preparation.
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