In the name of packing more students into a single dorm, the University of Georgia plans to tear down historic Rutherford Hall, a picture perfect specimen of neo-classical architecture. It was built in 1939 with President Franklin Roosevelt's Public Works Administration funds. Rutherford Hall has been home to hundreds of women who have enjoyed its open fireplaces, marble hearths, and brass andirons--features that would be cost prohibitive in contemporary construction. UGA has presented no definitive numbers that prove tearing down and rebuilding will cost less than restoring the original dorm.

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has named Rutherford Hall one of its ten "places in peril" for 2012. The group notes that the dorm makes an important "contribution to the historic fabric of the University" and that imposing new construction on the same site imposes a higher "environmental impact" than restoration. Tell the University of Georgia and the State University Board of Regents to save and restore Rutherford Hall.

We the undersigned respectfully ask that you reconsider your decision to tear down Rutherford Hall and build a new dormitory that can never be as true to the historic fabric of UGA's campus as is this historic girl's dorm. It's not entirely clear how prohibitively expensive new construction will save the university money. And certainly Rutherford Hall's architectural features, such as marble hearths and fireplaces, are irreplaceable. Please restore Rutherford Hall rather than tearing it down!