Eleven years ago, January 5, 1978, your editor sent a letter to James Brickley, then
President of EMU, concerning Welch Hall. It was simply an outline, stressing the
importance of the building to the University and the community and suggesting a way it
might be brought back into productive use. The following is a reprint:
To: President Brickley
From: Jack Harris
Re: Welch Hall
1. Concerned about the ECHO report (mid-Fall) and rumors that the administration is considering the possibility of demolishing Welch Hall.
2. Feel a duty to convey not only my own thoughts on the subject, but what I have heard
from campus sources, community people, and others. In talking with Vice-President Smith
about my "5 Buildings: Ypsilanti" grant project, I set before him some of the following
thoughts about Welch Hall. He urged me to see you.
a.) Welch Hall is our only state-funded building which survives from the nineteenth
century (1896). Sherzer is 1903. Starkweather came as a gift. Welch, then, is
a most important building for us historically.
b.) Architecturally, it is our 'front', our face to the world, facing as it does
Cross Street and Washtenaw Avenue and the historic water tower. It presents an
excellent classical nineteenth century facade to the public. The details of the
front are exceptionally fine. (I have color slides that show details.)
c.) Economically it may be a problem at this point - I don't know; I would like to
have more information about this. As for heat loss, it seems to register about
equal to Pray-Harrold on the infra-red map in City Hall - and it is far better
in terms of heat loss than many other campus buildings, including Roosevelt.
d.) The architect's specifications sheet (40+ pp.) (in the archives of our library)
indicates the finest materials went into the building. The solid appearance of
the structure gives evidence of such durability.
e.) Most important: Welch serves as the crucial side of a large space, a University
Square, so to speak, made up of Sherzer, Ford, McKenny and Welch - with our
National Trust Starkweather in the center. This large square, beautifully
designed, and now become a focal meeting place for students in good weather,
would be destroyed if Welch were removed. This quiet and beautiful enclosed
space would be exchanged for the roar of traffic along Cross and Washtenaw. The
effect would be an enormous shock; the loss devastating.
f.) Welch could easily be on the National Register of Historic Places. This means
that there would be the ever-increasing possibility of government funds for
restoration and/or recycling of the building. Moreover, to tear it down
would no doubt make it difficult if not impossible to get funds for recycling of
lesser buildings on the campus. This year Columbus, Ohio, lost a $6,000,000
grant that it had been awarded by the government when the city - after the fact -
bulldozed an historic structure in the proposed revitalization area. On the
other hand, there is an increasing amount of evidence of the financial benefits
of restoration/recycling.
g.) The effect on public relations of demolishing Welch Hall would be totally negative.
First, the town would be deeply concerned. There are a great many people
here who attended the Normal School. Secondly, the effect of demolition on
alumni relations would, I fear, be seriously detrimental. To lose Welch Hall
would be a minus for students, staff, administration and the community.