Faculty Club

The current Faculty Club used to bear the name Dyer Memorial, in honor of Susan Hart Dyer, composer and director of the College’s Conservatory of Music. Mrs. Dyer also served as a professor of violin, director of the orchestra and chorus, and president of the Florida Federation of Music Clubs. The financing of the $5,266 building came from the donations of Mrs. Dyer’s friends and former students through the Dyer Memorial Association, which was created and administered by Mrs. Philip T. Stillman of Winter Park. The dedication ceremony took place on April 14, 1940, conducted by the Xi Chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national honorary music fraternity.

Under the architectural leadership of Kiehnel and Elliott of Miami, the construction company of Harry C. Cone built the structure. Adjacent to Pugsley Hall, the Dyer Memorial sits amid a cluster of Rollins buildings. The physical structure of Dyer Memorial follows the same pattern as that of Woolson House. The building is made of concrete and tile with stucco finish in the traditional Spanish-Mediterranean style that is dominant throughout the rest of the college’s buildings. The facility has a cathedral ceiling, tiled roof, and large wrought-iron door.

The building sought to fulfill the fantasies of the music lovers of Rollins and Winter Park by providing them with a miniature concert hall with a capacity of eighty occupants. The building was constructed to serve the music department, similar to Woolson House and the English department. The facility originally contained a large collection of symphonic records donated by the Carnegie Foundation. Another important use of the building in its early history was as a music-broadcasting studio for Rollins faculty and students. Renamed the Faculty Club under the Critchfield administration, this one-room building has been used mainly as a site for meetings, recitals, classes, and lectures over the recent years.