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LETTER: O’Hair House a troubling sign for city-university relationship
To the Editor:
DePauw University’s demolition of the historic O’Hair House prompted this letter. Destroying the house was unnecessary, and among other actions, the university’s handling of the largesse of Robert H. O’Hair raises questions about the authenticity and sincerity of the school’s interactions with donors and members of the community.
According to an assessment DePauw had conducted, the house had suffered from decades of neglect and abuse at the hands of the university, but contrary to the DePauw version of “reality” related in a recent Banner Graphic article, a viable solution was provided for preserving the home and enabling its future use.
In his initial communications with community organizations, prior to any meetings or discussions, Warren Whitesell (VP, DePauw facilities) stated he was not sure he could, “accurately provide the reasons why deferred maintenance on this structure was not addressed earlier,” nor could he explain the lack of funding for repairs. He also outlined the school’s intent to, “demolish the house and restore the property to some form of recognition garden” unless they identified any gift or deed restrictions that would prohibit their doing so.
In the end, despite extensive communications between the university and local preservationists, Indiana Landmarks and the O’Hair family, the final outcome has been exactly what was outlined via Mr. Whitesell’s statements four years ago.
In July of 2018, Mr. Whitesell hosted the first of multiple meetings with representatives from the Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County (HPS), the Putnam County Museum, Indiana Landmarks (Landmarks) and the City of Greencastle to investigate various strategies for the property.
Landmarks has been saving historic structures throughout Indiana for over 60 years, and the O’Hair House on the DePauw campus was by no means the worst structure Landmarks has tackled in that time. After a reassessment of the property, Landmarks proposed several remedial measures, to include replacing all roofing and gutters, replacing the east bay wall, reinforcing or installing interior structural walls and selective replacement and repointing of exterior bricks. Following completion of that work, Landmarks, in coordination with DePauw, planned to sell the house to a preservation-minded buyer and oversee their final restoration of the structure.
In response to Landmarks’ proposal, DePauw’s VP of finance, Robert “Bob” Leonard, stated that the university chose not to dispose of the site by donation or otherwise, preferring to retain the on-campus property since it is, “strategically located near other important university residential and administrative properties.” From the earliest interactions with the university, it was emphasized that if the university was not willing to accept a long-term lease or transfer of the property, a solution external of DePauw was not feasible. To accommodate DePauw’s concerns, Landmarks’ proposal provided for first rights of refusal for DePauw: Future owners could not sell without first affording the university an opportunity to purchase the property.
DePauw’s president Lori White recently addressed a session of the Greencastle City Council, and in part said, “we want more employees to live here in Greencastle,” further noting how many have, “struggled to find a house to buy.” President White illustrated multiple options to take in partnership with the city, to include building new homes on real estate owned by DePauw, yet the university has demolished dozens of residential structures throughout the city. Many of those homes were not razed to make way for classrooms or other institutional structures, but merely created a vacant lot.
The university will tell you that none of these structures could have reasonably been saved. This is the same thing they said about the O’Hair House, which we know to be untrue.
DePauw puts itself forward as being supportive of green initiatives, yet there are few actions that an individual or an institution can take that would be less green than demolishing a building. You lose all the materials that were used to construct the structure originally and you place them in a landfill. If you replace the building, you consume all new materials. What kind of example does this set for the students who attend the university? I thought you were to reuse or repurpose, not replace.
The nature of the above actions seems to point to a systemic lack of honesty and transparency by DePauw, which is hard for me to accept. I grew up here. I recognize that the community is fortunate to have a nationally-recognized university located in our midst.
A central element of President White’s recent address to the Greencastle City Council was that the relationship between the university and Greencastle must “continue to flourish,” but the foundation for any meaningful relationship is trust.
Misrepresentation, misdirection and lack of genuine appreciation for those who make your success possible is not the basis for trust.
Phil Gick
Greencastle