Discover 4 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Normal (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Watterson Towers, Normal Theater, and Children's Discovery Museum. Also, be sure to include University Galleries of Illinois State University in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Normal (Illinois).
Table of Contents
Watterson Towers
Watterson Towers is a student residence hall at Illinois State University, and is one of the tallest dormitory buildings in the world at 298.5 feet. Located in Normal, Illinois, at the corner of Fell and Beaufort Streets, it was completed in 1969. The 28-story complex holds over 2,200 students and stands at 91m, making it one of the tallest brutalist structures in the world. Watterson Towers was named after Arthur W. Watterson, a popular professor and chair of the ISU Geography Department, who taught at the University from 1946–1966. The building was designed by Fridstein and Fitch Architects in Chicago, and built by C. Iber and Sons Company of Peoria, Illinois.
Externally, the most noticeable feature of the building is that it consists of two separate towers. From the outside an observer sees that the two towers are connected at several points by breezeways. However, to the residents, this division into towers goes almost unnoticed, as what is far more important is the internal division of the building into houses. Watterson is composed of ten of these houses, and each is considered—in terms of campus governance—to be its own residence hall. The houses used to be named after the first ten Secretaries of State of the United States. As of 2020 each house is now an alphabet letter. A house at the bottom, and E house at the top.
Each "house" consists of five consecutive floors of a tower. Houses at the same level are paired both physically and in terms of student governance. For example, the bottom five residential floors of the South Tower and the bottom five residential floors of the North Tower comprise " collectively.
Within each house, most floors are divided into four "suites" consisting of six rooms each. The suites include four double occupancy rooms, a triple room, and a single occupancy room. However, on the middle floor of each house, there are only two suites, as the area for the other two suites is taken up by other things, including the connecting breezeways and some study lounges.
Watterson Towers is the tallest structure in Bloomington-Normal, and can be seen when entering the twin cities from either direction.[1]
Normal Theater
Movie theater in Normal, Illinois. The Normal Theater is a cinema located in the downtown area of Normal, Illinois of the United States of America, which is located in McLean County. The theater closed for a time in the early 1990s but reopened in 1993 after being purchased and renovated by the town of Normal. It has since been in continuous operation, showing a mix of first run and classic films. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been since July 25, 1997.[2]
Address: 209 W North St, 61761-2533 Bloomington-Normal
Children's Discovery Museum
Children's museum, Museum, Science museum
Address: 101 E Beaufort St, 61761-3026 Bloomington-Normal
University Galleries of Illinois State University
Art museum, Museum
Address: 11 Uptown Cir, 61761-8701 Bloomington-Normal