Demolition begins on Berea College's historical Edwards Building

Jul. 20—Sierra Marling

Berea College's ongoing plans for campus renovations originally included updating the historic Edwards Building. However, on July 17, the college announced the beginning of the demolition of the 120-year-old building. This decision left many complex feelings for the community at large.

Constructing history

According to "Building a College: An Architectural History of Berea College", the Board of Trustees voted to establish vocational courses during the summer of 1898. In 1901, they voted to create a building to house those classes.

In October 1902, approximately 40 male students worked to prepare the foundations for the Industrial Building. The cornerstone, into which the following words were carved "Industry, Skill, Brotherhood, Religion," was laid by Julian Ralph on October 18, 1902. The endeavor was a vocational student learning and labor project that was to serve the industrial education program of Berea Foundation School male students.

Students and industries moved into the first section, which was completed during the winter term of 1903. Students could learn many vocations, including tailoring, laundry, wagon shop (wheelwright), blacksmith, small machine repair, carpentry and cabinetry, and printing and drawing.

While it was technically part of the Vocational Men's campus, the Industrial Building also provided residences for boys of the Foundation School.

Paul Atkinson, who lived and attended the Foundation School from 1964 to 1967, recalled that "it was a great experience with many friends and life-long brothers."

"I remember that every Sunday we got our standard sack supper that consisted of a sandwich, chips, apple, a cookie, and a small carton of milk. We didn't have a refrigerator, so we opened the windows and placed the sack in between the window and screen. You could see the brown sacks lined up across the front and back of Edwards. I ate a lot of bologna sandwiches back then," he said.

Since 1972, only a few years after the Foundation School closed in May 1968, Edwards Building has seen at least five renovations and has served many purposes — especially as the building went on to rotate between administrative departments.

The building has been home to the Appalachian Center, the Berea College Admissions Office, and served as a resident hall for many students over the years.

The decision to demolish

According to officials, the college community and the board of trustees had multiple discussions about this decision over a period of months — spanning late last year into this spring — before a final decision was made to proceed with the new construction option.

Prior to the demolition, the college also invited all alumni from the Foundation School to take one last tour of it in May.

Berea College's Vice President for Operations & Sustainability Derrick Singleton explained why the decision to demolish was made.

"The risk related to the renovation option was structural in nature," he said. "In a renovation option, the existing walls would no longer have been able to be used to support structural loads. So, to renovate Edwards, the roof and all the floors would have had to be deconstructed, essentially leaving a shell of the four main walls of brick remaining that would have required extensive shoring throughout renovation."

He added that shoring, or adding supports, "always carries some degree of elevated risk"; however, he added that the age of the brick in addition to questions on the stability of the foundation were not promising factors. Additionally, these factors meant that the preservation effort had no guarantee of success.

According to officials, the estimated cost for the renovation option was over $3 million more expensive than the demolition/new construction option.

The announcement spurred many emotions in the local and Berea College communities, including sentiments that further work should be done to preserve the building.

Le Jane Bandy Liebhart, who graduated from Berea College in 1985, said, "I know it's not always feasible to renovate older buildings such as Edwards, but as an alumna, I feel Berea College needs to do all they can to preserve their historic buildings. They are a big part of what makes the campus so charming and attractive. Every time they tear one down, we lose another piece of our college history."

Singleton expressed validation to those who feel despondent at the loss of Edwards, saying "I think that their sadness is shared by all."

"The original building construction included student involvement in part, which served the college well for close to a century, so it rightfully holds a warm and familiar spot in the hearts of many current and former students and employees," he said.

However, Singleton did disclose that the new building will be pursuing a LEED Silver certification, which incorporates among many other things, optimized energy efficiency strategies that will allow the new building to use less energy than its predecessor, as well as having improved Indoor Air Quality for occupants and reduced water use.

Additionally, there are plans to incorporate pieces of the historic building into the new building.

For example, officials confirmed that a section of the exterior brick of the original building will be preserved and installed in the new building with some interpretive signage and photos to explain and preserve its legacy. Also, the design of the new building will mimic a few aspects of the brick detail of the original as an architectural design homage, such as the windows and some of the brick corbeling.

Lastly, the original cornerstone of the old building, with its inscription of "Industry, Skill, Brotherhood, Religion", will be preserved and built into the new building.