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OPEN LETTER TO U6A
We are writing to you on behalf of the
Student Historic Preservation Organization
at UGA in regard to UGA's plans to demolish
Rutherford Hall. As much as we hate to see
any historic building demolished, Rutherford
is particularly disturbing because of its sig
nificance to South Campus. UGA is known for
the beauty of the North Campus quads, but
in some ways the real heart of the university
is south of Tate. South Campus is where the
majority of classes take place and where the
students, especially the undergrads, experi
ence life at UGA. Rutherford Hall and Myers
Quad are integral parts of that experience aes
thetically, historically and emotionally.
Part of the beauty of Myers Quad is the way
that the scale, massing and style of all the
residence halls are in balance and compliment
each other. Demolition of Rutherford Hall
would destroy that balance, and the Myers
Quad would never be the same. The university
states that a new residence hall would be
built to house more students, in order to be
economically viable. Your letter to the state
indicates that the new building would have
an "expanded footprint," which of course
means larger, and therefore out of scale with
the rest of the quad. You also state that the
new design will be "contextual" with the other
buildings on the quad. Does that mean it is
safe to assume that it will be another "faux
classical" monument covered in "lick and
stick" ornamentation? That architecture has
worked well for buildings like the Tate Center
expansion, MLC and the new Hargrett Library,
as they are massive, stand-alone buildings and
are not meant to be part of a larger system.
Myers Quad, on the other hand, is special
in that the system of buildings is already in
place. Why not leave it alone instead of build
ing something new that has to try to be some
thing that it isn't?
Beyond the aesthetics of Rutherford Hall,
there is also a tremendous amount of his
tory represented in that building. It is one
of a handful of PWA buildings constructed
on campus during the Great Depression. It
was part of a controversy between the state
of Georgia and the Federal Government sur
rounding federal influence based on funding.
It was the third dorm built to house women
on campus at a time when women, including
some of our grandmothers, were just begin
ning to seek college educations at UGA in
large numbers. Probably most importantly, the
Myers Quad housed Charlayne Hunter when she
and Hamilton Holmes integrated the univer
sity in 1961. The legacy of that time period
at UGA is invaluable to current and future
generations of students, and we would argue
that it is far better represented in a building
complex that actually housed Hunter, alone in
a sea of white faces, rather than in a building
on North Campus that simply bears her last
name. Rutherford Hall is a fantastic teaching
tool and a touchstone to history—one that
becomes all the more valuable as the genera
tions who lived through those events are lost
and they become entries in a history book.
It seems strange that two reports, done
two months apart, would have such striking
discrepancies in the condition of Rutherford
Hall and its future viability. We are not argu
ing that there are not issues with the struc
ture, because any building that old is bound
to have things come up. However, the uni
versity prides itself on being the oldest state
chartered school in the country, and the archi
tects' office has proven time and again that
they are up to the challenge of making our
historic structures useful for the 21st century.
So, why not here; why tear down Rutherford
Hall to add some extra beds? Why ruin the
Myers Quad, where so much money has already
been expended for renovations, because the
university feels Rutherford will be too expen
sive, yet according to the state gives no real
accounting of the
costs. Why demolish
a cherished piece of
thousands of women's
college experience
because it is just
easier for you? The
Bulldog community
awaits your answers.
Dr. Crass expressed it best in his letter:
"The demolition of this historic building is not
justified."
The Student Historic Preservation
Organization at UGA
• Athens
A REPORT FROM HABITAT
As Executive Director of Athens Area
Habitat for Humanity, I would like to com
mend Kevan Williams for bringing to light
the staggering statistics regarding poverty
in Athens-Clarke County. What Kevan's article
didn't mention, however, is that the four
counties that follow Athens with the highest
poverty rates are all found in southern Texas,
with three out of four of them bordering
Mexico. How did a county an hour outside
of Atlanta, with the oldest public university,
top hospitals and medical care, median home
prices in line with the national average, and
a city consistently ranked as one of the best
places to retire by Money. Fortune, Kiplinger's
and others, win the unfortunate title of high
est rate of poverty?
Athens' high poverty rate didn't come
all of a sudden. The county has hovered in
the top five for more than 10 years. While it
could be said that the high rate of poverty in
Athens is due to the student population at the
University of Georgia, the data available does
not support this claim. According to the U.S.
Census Bureau's 2009 American Community
Survey, 34.1 percent of all families in Clarke
County with children under 18 years old have
incomes below the poverty level, which is still
nearly twice the state average of 18.5 percent.
In addition, 38 percent of all families in Clarke
County with children under five years old have
incomes below poverty. This, and the fact that
98-99 percent of the student populations at
three Clarke County elementary schools were
on the free-and-reduced lunch program last
year, it's impossible to point the finger at the
university population. As a result, it's difficult
to entice companies and corporations to move
to a county with a high poverty rate, with
public schools that are improving but are not
where they should
be performing, and
with a severe lack of
affordable housing.
Every day, our
staff works with
not just the poor,
but the very poor,
in our county, and
Athens Area Habitat has done a lot over the
last six years to try to solve this problem.
We're targeting high-poverty areas in which
to build our homes. We have moved into
offering affordable rental units to be used as
a stepping stone to homeownership, which
has never before been done by a Habitat for
Humanity affiliate. We are building emergency
handicapped ramps onto existing homes to
help the sick and disabled access their homes
easier. We are going into homes that are in
desperate need of repair and fixing roofing
and structural issues so homeowners on fixed
incomes can stay in their houses rather than
be forced to move to a shelter or assisted liv
ing. Athens Area Habitat for Humanity is a
huge, important part of the solution to our
problem of poverty, but a major shift in rec
ognizing and addressing the overall problems
needs to occur if we are ever going to signifi
cantly reduce poverty in Athens, GA.
The problem of poverty in Athens affects us
all, and both our state leaders and our com
munity should be outraged. As residents, we
all have a responsibility to work together to
invoke change. Athens Area Habitat is lead
ing the charge to increase the availability
of affordable housing in Athens, and we are
hopeful that others will answer the call as
well.
Spencer Frye, Executive Director
Athens
RE: RUTHERFORD HALL
I read with interest the story in the June
29 Flagpole about Rutherford Hall and the uni
versity's reluctant decision to bring the wreck
ing ball as the best choice for the site.
Is not feasibility always the problem with
restoration/preservation? Does not historic
value trump feasibility where it really matters?
I wonder what made Myers Hall worth renovat
ing 30 years ago? What about Soule Hall? We
could go on and on.
Stories about Housing's struggles to meet
its needs inspire little confidence in the value
of its input. They sound like they are no more
than step-n'-fetchits for admissions, which
tirelessly mines the Klondike stream known by
the little people as the Hope Scholarship, and
which apparently eyes enrollment levels as
mere functions of Hope cashflow.
Decades from now the Myers quad will per
haps be more of an example of what campus
once looked like. I am not an architecture
critic, but I do have a naive sense of build
ings that are pleasing. The SLC, for instance,
towers like some grandiose, Roman, overdone
brick monument, dwarfing its surroundings.
The new Hargrett special collections building
is equally self important and "too much sugar
for a dime." East Campus Village stands like
one of those condominium monstrosities on
the Gulf Coast.
Oh, and lest I forget, why did Stegeman
Coliseum not get state historic review before
that hideous "addition" was stuck onto
the north face? It has all the charm of an
Ogletho , County redneck's vinyl-sided
exterior closet added to his engineered-
manufactured home. It positively blasphemes
the original structure. I am sure the original
designers must be turning like Foosball dum
mies in their respective graves.
Jim Baird
Comer
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