Submitted by Inger Wood (ingerwood@gmail.com)
Get busy! Attend this meeting tonight!
UGA’s Student Historic Preservation Organization, along with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation, and other interested parties, have been trying to change the minds of our University Architects concerning the fate of Rutherford Hall, a dorm on the Myers Quad.
Rutherford Hall was constructed by the Public Works Administration in 1939 as the 3rd dormitory on campus to house women. Citing indeterminate high costs of repairs and the need for more student housing as reasons, UGA wants to demolish the historic building and replace it with a larger dormitory that would contain 100 more beds.
According to state procedure concerning buildings that are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the UGA Architects sent notice to Georgia DNR HPD of their intent to demolish Rutherford. In their response, HPD disapproved of the decision and asked to meet with UGA Architects to discuss alternative options such as rehabilitation and compatible additions that would preserve the historic qualities of Rutherford and the quad it faces. Thus far, UGA has declined. An online petition to save Rutherford was created, and as soon as we had 500 signatures, we sent it to President Adams. The media has taken notice, but we have gotten no response from UGA.
A request was also made of UGA to hold a hearing to allow the public to voice their opinions for or against the demolition of Rutherford Hall. UGA posted notice of a public hearing in Friday’s Athens Banner-Herald. The meeting is to be held on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 6:30pm, at the UGA Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, 315 Riverbend Road.
A sign-up sheet will be outside of the meeting room until 6:15 for anyone who wishes to voice their opinion.
Please help us fill seats at this meeting!
Read more here on the Online Athens website of the Athens Banner-Herald.
Where to find it
Click above to go to a larger Google interactive map of the area.
Posted online on Tuesday, September 6th, 2011