As the semester winds down, the library stays open 24/7 during Finals Week, and students look for comfort food and other things to get them through Finals. Let’s step back in history to when the restaurant the Round House was near campus. Located at 2027 College Boulevard, what is now the corner of University Drive and Chrisway Street, the restaurant opened around 1949 and served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The drive-in cafe also provided a dining room, curbside service, and a soda fountain. Popular menu items included hamburgers and milkshakes.
The original owners of the restaurant were George and LaVona Swanson, and it went through a few other owners and name changes during the 1950s. Some of the different names included Kirk’s Roundhouse Restaurant and Kwicurb Drive-In. Fred A. Pittenger, a medical doctor, purchased the building in 1961 and remodeled it. The building reopened as the Medical Arts Pharmacy and later became the Medical Center Association.
Boise State College purchased the building in 1972 and became the Health and Wellness Center. The building was later renamed the Chrisway Annex and was where Psychological Research was located. As an ad from the May 26, 1950 student newspaper the Roundup states, “For Fine Foods Think of the Round House.”
Julia Stringfellow,
Archivist/Librarian