Designed by Baumann and Baumann and completed for fall quarter 1961, this seven-story building was designed as an addition to Melrose Hall and was originally called New Melrose Hall. Intended to accommodate 1,040 residents, the residence hall was one of the largest in the South. Original planning in 1959 called for a large barracks area on the top floor—a single room with one hundred beds—to be used by convention delegates and guests of dormitory occupants. When built, the facility had 521 double rooms, each measuring 12 feet by 15 feet. Each room had built-in maple furnishings, including seven-foot single beds, closet and drawer space, bookshelves, Formica-top desks with a built-in study lamp, and a separate medicine cabinet for each occupant. The residence hall included a study lounge for every 48 students, a game room, sun decks on the roof, a music practice room, a main lounge with kitchenette, three vending areas, six elevators, and a large baggage room. The building was paid for by a $2 million federal loan from the US Housing and Home Finance Agency, supplemented by approximately $1 million appropriated by the 1959 State Legislature.
In 1962 the first six floors of section H were used to house 110 female transfer students, while awaiting the completion of what is now Dunford Hall, and three hundred women were assigned to Hess in 1969 because of lack of sufficient housing for female students.
The building was named for James P. Hess Sr. on November 6, 1965, at a ceremony in which Governor Frank Clement presented the building to the university and President Holt accepted. Hess’s daughter, Martha, unveiled a plaque in the lobby bearing Hess’s name and a list of his services to UT. Hess was the long-time secretary of the board of trustees and business manager of the university (1932–65). He entered UT as a freshman in 1912 and joined the UT staff in 1919 as director of a federal program to train disabled veterans. Legendary as a gracious and gentle administrator, Hess surprised students and faculty by winning the hog-calling contest held in 1942 in connection with the Agriculture College’s Roundup. He retired on September 1, 1965.
The building sits on the site of the former Edward J. McMillan home, a 13-room residence acquired in a gift/purchase arrangement by UT in 1956. Construction of Hess Hall also necessitated the razing of Melrose, an antebellum mansion (built ca. 1854 by marble magnate John J. Craig) that had become the Melrose Art Center. The grounds of Melrose extended originally to Cumberland Avenue, with Lake Avenue having derived its name from the ornamental, man-made lake that was part of the Melrose grounds. The male side of Hess Hall was air conditioned in 1998, and air-conditioning work for the entire hall was completed in 2000.