Healy Hall (1877) No tour of Georgetown can begin without starting at Healy Hall, the archetypal Georgetown building. Designed in 1874 by the architects who later constructed the Library of Congress, the so-called "New Building" was larger than had ever been attempted to date by an American university: 312 feet long, 95 feet wide, with a clock tower approaching ten stories tall. Its construction alone took three years. University president Patrick Healy, S.J. was determined to see it built, even as costs soared five times higher than the estimate. Georgetown borrowed heavily to get it built, but the results transformed the University's future. The building later named for Healy was worth every penny: over its 130 years it has housed classrooms, laboratories, a library, offices, dorms, and everything from an art gallery to a rifle range. It remains the enduring symbol of the Georgetown experience. (Click on the photo to continue.)