Beal Maltbie Center

James Hartley Beal in 1943

The Beal-Maltbie Center, originally the Rollins Shell Museum, was designed by architect Harold Hair and constructed by H. C. Cone for the sum of $9,864.  Dedicated on August 9, 1940, this one-story building is located in close proximity to the old Student Center, the current site of Rice Family Bookstore. The building, which fits the Mediterranean pattern of the Rollins campus, faces the bookstore building to the east and Pugsley Hall to the west. With a 35x65 foot exhibition room and a large lobby, the 3,339-square-foot hall initially housed one of the finest shell collections in the South. The collection was donated by Dr. James H. Beal (1861-1945), former professor at both the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois. The funding for the construction was provided by his friend, Birdsey L. Maltbie, founder and chairman of the Malbtie Chemical Company of Newark, N.J., and former of president of the American Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Association. The collection, which represented fifty years of work by Dr. Beal, was later given to the University of Florida. Now, the building houses the Department of Environmental Studies.

A view of the collection inside