Good-bye, Rutherford! You'll be Missed!

Preservationists rallied on the local, state and national level. Former students started Facebook pages and pleaded with officials. But no loud outcry could prevent University of Georgia officials from carrying out their plan to raze a 1939 residence hall on South Campus.

According to a story in the Athens Banner Herald, the Board of Regents Committee on Real Estate and Facilities voted unanimously Tuesday to demolish Rutherford Hall. The entire board is likely to agree with the committee's decision.

"I am very disappointed," said Amy Kissane, executive director of the . "I think the loss of Rutherford is a huge loss. I just hope that this will convince the Regents to push the University to do a campus-wide preservation plan so we don’t see more historic buildings on south campus go the same way."

Since the plan to demolish the building came to light months ago, advocates have been hoping the UGA Administration would agree to renovate and expand Rutherford as they have neighboring Myers, Soule and Mary Lyndon halls. UGA officials have said they wanted to build a bigger building, retaining historic elements from Rutherford, that can accommodate more students.

President Adams has repeatedly stressed that he is committed to historic preservation. "I just decided I wouldn't put any child in a building that I wouldn't want my own child living in," he said.

Rutherford was built by the Works Progress Administration, an agency created during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's tenure to put people to work during the Great Depression. The WPA also built UGA's Fine Arts Building, which has been restored and renovated to great success.

The historic residence hall was recented named to the list by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.