>Seconded. This happens in all kinds of ways, all the time. In a more
>benign example, after WWII, the military gave a bunch of huts to the
>University of British Columbia to help them manage their "temporary"
>crowding problem.

Yep, the University of Maine still has a couple of WWII-era ROTC barracks buildings on campus. Nowadays they have no connection to the ROTC (they have their own, newer facilities elsewhere on campus), and the old barracks are used as administrative office space, not housing. So it isn't a particular problem, but one imagines they weren't originally expected to stand for more than a few years either. They seem to be just wood-frame buildings with single-glazing windows, in Maine. Must cost a fortune to heat in the winter.

In a similar vein, I was always told that the Ellsworth and Fuller Apartments at WPI were built as temporary housing for the crews who built Morgan and Daniels Halls. They were supposed to be torn down once the dorms opened, and then someone at Res Life thought, Wait a minute, we could charge upperclassmen to live in those. I don't know if that's actually true (although it's perfectly in character for WPI's administration as I knew it), but they're still there, and they are undeniably flimsy-ass dwellings. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.