University of Virginia Library

Fred Heblich

Restoration: A Wasteful Resurrection

The fact that the federal
government continually wastes
billions of dollars on planes
that don't fly, ships that don't
float, and programs that don't
work, can be glossed over, but
when the government and
private contributors join hands
to finance a colossal disaster as
close to home as the
restoration of the Rotunda, it
can't be taken as lightly.

Attended by several
"dignitaries," and sanctified by
the presence of Tricia Nixon
Cox, last Friday's ceremony
saw the Department of
Housing and Urban
Development and the Cary D.
Langhorne Trust solemnly
pledge to piss away $2.1
million to make the Rotunda
"the center of University life
functionally as well as
architecturally." Cow Dung!

Better Ways

Aside from the fact that
there are many better ways to
spend $2.1 million — like
restoring the Garrett Street
area to a place fit for human
habitation, for instance — what
the University proposes to do
with a "restored" Rotunda is
simply intolerable.

At present the Rotunda
serves as the home of several
administrative offices, and is
the site of several student
social gatherings, mainly the
Restoration Ball and the
University Union Wine Tasting.
Students have less to do with
the Rotunda than they do with
John Graham's Hash House on
the West Lawn. Besides its
aesthetic charm, the only
purpose the Rotunda has is as a
mail-drop for the Seven
Society.

But take a peek at the
"restored" Rotunda. The main
floor will be restored and used
as offices for President
Shannon and the Board of
Visitors, and don't forget those
facilities for faculty gatherings;
which leaves students without
even a decent place to have a
wine tasting.

What's Wrong

One must wonder what the
hell is wrong with Pavilion
VIII that the President has to
move up the Lawn. Also, it is
hard to imagine a bigger waste
of space than a room for the
Board of Visitors. For the
amount of time they visit, a
vacant phone booth or men's
room would be more than
adequate. But, won't it be nice
to have cattle buses full of
pasty-faced tourists "ooh" and
"ahh" at the "keystone" of the
University.

If past history is any
indicator of how students are
to be treated, the promises of
space for lectures and seminars
in the "restored" Rotunda are
at best half-hearted. Jefferson's
plan designed the Pavilions as
both living quarters for
professors and as classrooms.
Instead the Pavilions are used
as administrative offices and
old folks homes. Students have
been shoved out to reach for
new cerebral heights in the
inspirational surroundings of
new Cabell Hall. An even
greater injustice is the Mobile
City Trailer Park extension of
the Business School.

One can argue that the
Rotunda should be restored
because Jefferson wanted it
that way. To keep in step with
the Jeffersonian plan, then, it
would follow that the trees on
the Lawn be removed, Cabell
Hall be removed, and the
Chapel, an aberration of the
doctrine of separation of
Church and State, be razed. In
addition, the name of this
institution could be restored to
its original moniker of Central
College.

Values

Our distinguished visitor at
Founder's Day, Sir Kenneth
Clark, claims that the
architecture of a civilization
tells a lot about its values. This
seems true in the case of Wilson
Hall and the department it
houses. The proposed uses of
the "restored" Rotunda are
revealing about the
administration's attitudes
towards students. Perhaps
room can be found in it for the
Office of Student Affairs.

Perhaps, in a century or so,
some generous soul may even
put out a few million to
restore Cobb Chemical to its
prominent place in student
academic and cultural life.