From the Annals of NIH History

Waterfall Window

This Art Deco style window, depicting a waterfall, towers above a stairwell leading to what used to be a conference room on the fourth floor in the now-vacant Building 7. The building was once home to NIH scientists who worked on infectious diseases, identified new viruses, and developed vaccines against hepatitis, rotavirus, and adenoviruses (1947–2009). The conference room was built in memory of and named for one of those scientists—Wallace P. Rowe, who died of colon cancer at the age of 57 in 1983. Lab meetings were held in the conference room until 2001. Building 7—and the waterfall window with its matching balusters—is slated for demolition in 2016. Read more about Building 7 and its rich history in the September-October 2014 issue of the NIH Catalyst (“The Secrets of Building 7, NIH’s First State-of-the Art Infectious Disease Laboratory”).

Anyone interested in rescuing the window should contact Christopher Wanjek (wanjek@od.nih.gov or 301-402-4274).