I am writing in response to Amelia Meyer’s column (“Pointless preservation,” Oct. 8). As the project manager for this past summer’s East Range dormitory renovation, I worked closely with Brian Hogg to develop the scope, schedule and budget for this project. Meyer’s assumption that the Board of Visitor’s decision to fund this project is superfluous because the money could be better spent somewhere else is incorrect.
Hogg was correct, as Meyer pointed out, that the funding for this project was “raised explicitly for this purpose”; private funding earmarked for historic preservation of the Academical Village; and therefore could not be used for other purposes. As for better ways to spend money on the University community, I will say that only 15 percent of the total project cost was spent on materials, the rest went to labor. All of that labor was performed by skilled University tradespeople, thus providing jobs for at least 59 University employees and providing a better living space for generations of University students.
I would venture to guess that most people disagree with Meyer’s article. Her statement that “The University [has a] ridiculous obsession with tradition and authenticity, not to mention ... worship[s] Thomas Jefferson” is probably partly true, but it is also part of what makes this place so special to so many people, and sets us apart from all other educational institutions around the globe.
It is this reason that lets us say, “I have worn the honor of Honors”, it is this cross-generational feeling that lets complete strangers knock on a Lawn room door, say, “I used to live here,” and be welcomed with a smile, and it is for this reason that we must all act as stewards of the University. I hope before she graduates, Meyer may come to understand this, to understand that preservation is much deeper than a layer of paint.
James D.W. Zehmer
Historic Preservation
Project Coordinator
SARC ‘02
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