- Building
- 1965-
The Dana Porter Library officially opened on October 23, 1965 as the Arts Library Building. It was designed by Toronto based Shore and Moffatt and Partners and was built between 1964 and 1970. The 10-storey building had floors added over time, with work on the final three beginning in 1969 by Hamilton-based Eaglewood Construction.
The opening of the building in 1965 was marked by a special convocation ceremony during which honorary degrees were presented to Bertha Bassam, Robert Harold Blackburn, and Jack Ernest Brown. Afterwards, the academic procession proceeded directly from Convocation to the main entrance of the Arts Library Building. The Arts Library Building was dedicated to and named after Dana Harris Porter, the first chancellor of the University of Waterloo, on October 27, 1967.