Remembering the Struggle to Save Peters Hall

Cass Gilbert c. 1907 Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society "If I had to choose...the first (to build), I would...choose the tower and the cloister as essential to the composition. This would of course remove Peters Hall and fix for all time the central axis of the plan." Cass Gilbert to Pres. Henry C. King, June 9,1916 H.C. King Papers, Oberlin College Archives

Influenced by the classically-inspired campus plan of architect Cass Gilbert, as early as 1911 College planners desired to tear down Peters Hall and replace it with a majestic memorial Bell Tower. This proposed 300-foot-high structure would have been the central focus of Gilbert's grand design for Oberlin. This plan had a brief revival among influential College Trustees and College planners in the mid-1950s and again in the early 1970s. Even as late as 1992, during the administration of S. Frederick Starr, the survival of Peters Hall as a campus building was still very much in doubt. A year later, in 1993, the Trustees finally approved a plan to renovate Peters and the Starr administration launched a capital campaign to fund the renovation project.

William R. Perlik, '48 Chairman, Board of Trustees

"...I hope that the various objectives to be served by the Peters project can be brought together in a successful undertaking." William R. Perlik, Chairman, O.C. Board of Trustees, to Steven McQuillin, November 24, 1993 Original courtesy of William R. Perlik

Steven McQuillin, '75 Steven McQuillin & Associates Building Preservation Consultants "The proposed renovation of Peters Hall represents a unique opportunity for Oberlin College to celebrate its rich heritage as one of America's great institutions of higher education as it enters the 21st century. As an Oberlin alumnus who was present at the school when the decision was made in the early 1970s to shift the site of Mudd Library so that Peters and Warner both could be spared, I was deeply affected by this first bold step favoring historic preservation." Steven McQuillin, '75' to William R. Perlik, Chairman, O.C. Board of Trustees, November 15, 1993 Copy Courtesy of Steven McQuillin

Geoffrey Blodgett, '53 Danforth Professor of History "In these days of high-pitched environmental concern, the concept of stewardship is sometimes overworked. But moments come along when the concept applies to the flagship buildings of this campus. Peters Hall stands in need of caring friends. Is there a constituency out there interested in extending its career?" Geoffrey Blodgett '53, Professor of History "Peters at Risk...," Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Winter 1993, p.17

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