University of Virginia Library

Madison Hall Director
Declares Lease 'Nullified'

By Brian Siegel
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Employees of the School of General
Studies in Madison Hall found a formal
notice nailed to the front door yesterday
declaring that the University's supposed
50-year lease of Madison Hall and
Madison Bowl from the owner thereof is
void.

The notice, which was signed by
Samuel Manly, Law 3, as Executive
Director of Madison Hall, asserts that the
lease agreement is a nullity for failure to
comply with the requirement of the
Virginia Statute of Conveyances.

Rent owed by the University to the
sum of $8604 to Madison Hall was due
on November 1 under terms of the 1959
contract signed by Edgar F. Shannon on
behalf of the University and Edward E.
Younger as Chairman of the Board of Directors
of The Young Men's Christian Association of
the University.

Since this rent was not paid on time, Mr.
Manly has issued the five-day notice giving the
University the option to either pay or forfeit
the right of possession.

The Madison Hall-Madison Bowl tract has
been owned by the Y.M.C.A. of the University
since 1888, and Madison Hall was built by the
Y.M.C.A., which is a non-stock corporation, in
1905.

Madison Hall served as the student union
building until 1959 when Newcomb Hall was
completed. During this time, the University,
under oral agreement, paid the owners of the
building a fixed sum on a yearly basis.

Old Student Union

In 1959 when the student union moved to
Newcomb Hall, the University found it
desirable to negotiate a long-term lease. An
annual rent was decided upon which would be
"equal in purchasing power to the sum of
$7170 per year, based on the Consumer Price
Index for all Commodities.

This escalator clause is designed to keep the
rents up with inflation, or to compensate for
deflationary trends in the economy, according
to Mr. Manly. For this reason, the rents under
the allegedly void agreement would be $8604
this year and the next four years thereafter.

Mr. Manly said he has been negotiating with
the University since July for higher rent and
had just found out that the lease is allegedly
void.

Annual Costs

He also said that the owners of Madison Hall
have to pay out annually $800 in fire insurance
and must also pay back to the University a
10-year loan of $12,000 for the renovation of
the building which was completed in 1960.

Mr. Manly declined to comment on the legal
aspects of the matters pertaining to the dispute.
He did state, however, that he believed that a
substantial increase in the rents is necessary
immediately in order to forestall further action
on his part.

By law, all proceeds of the lease have been
and always will be devoted to the betterment of
the University and particularly to student
affairs, according to Mr. Manly.

Madison Hall, Mr. Manly said, is making
significant contributions to the University and
to the community by serving as the center and
Office of Community Service of the University,
by providing legal and other administrative
advisory services to students, and by sponsoring
lectures and discussions, under; the name of
"FOCUS," on topics of contemporary interest.

Reasonable Rent

He added, the operations could easily be
funded if the University would pay a fair and
reasonable rent for the property which it leases.

The formal notice, which was also delivered
to Acting President Frank L. Hereford, Jr.
yesterday, asserts that the University is in
default in the payment of rent for the property,
and demands payment or surrender of possession
of the property within five days.

The landlord has demanded the payment of
at least the $8604 within this time, and asserts
that failure to pay it will result in a forfeiture
of the tenancy.

University administration officials could not
be reached for comment yesterday.

Samuel Manly

Madison Hall Executive Director