When a 1916 fire destroyed M.A.C.'s nine-year-old engineering hall, there was a movement to have the entire program absorbed by the University of Michigan. Lansing automobile magnate Ransom E. Olds, however, solidified the program on the East Lansing campus with a gift of $100,000 in 1917 for a new engineering building to be erected directly upon the foundations of the burned hall. The donation, the College's first significant private gift for a building, resulted in Olds Hall. The original building is still standing but now houses MSU's University Relations division as well as classroom space.