UGA's Rutherford Hall 2.0 to be Finished in June and Open for 2013 Fall Semester

University of Georgia architects say construction is coming to an end on the new Rutherford Hall, built on the Myers Quad to replace the 1939 Rutherford Hall built by the Works Progress Administration. The roof is 80 percent finished, the outside structure is 90 percent complete, and workers are inside hanging sheetrock and putting down carpet.

The new Millie Rutherford Hall is larger than the old building, with room for 250 beds instead of 135 beds, private bathrooms, study rooms and even a classroom. There are also two spacious apartments for the faculty or staff people who will live there with students from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

"We tried to capture the spirit of the architecture of the building, and make it more of a Georgian building," said UGA architect Danny Sniff. "So you see the monumental stairs on the front, and the large columns and porch on the back were direct copies of the existing Rutherford Hall."

President Adams asked the university architects' office for three or four years of options about the historic residence hall, Sniff said. They could build onto it, renovate or simply raze it. The building had so many problems that razing it--despite a hue and cry from historic preservationists and alumni across the state--seemed like the best option. 

Sniff said the original residence hall wasn't "well built" to begin with--the materials themselves had imperfections. The staff wanted to salvage and reuse the back columns in the new building but found they varied in length by as much as two to three inches. They have managed to reuse a few items, including the mantles, the exterior light fixtures and the ornamental railing on the outside gardens.

They've maintained the parlors and fireplaces of the original building, though the fireplaces aren't working.

"In some circles it's not a good thing to try to copy the building you're replacing, but we thought it would fit in architecturally to its context," Sniff said. "It will last much longer than the existing Rutherford did."

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