Recovery
"Out of the loss that our college has suffered, out of the crumbled ruins of the Chapel, has emanated a sentiment which shall grow into a newly created Georgetown, with more efficient facilities and increased ardor to apply to the high task of Christian education."
Editorial, The Georgetonian, May 2, 193
When the Glee Club arrived back at Rucker Hall from its concert in eastern Kentucky, "all we could do was sit there in the bus and view the desolate sight," recalled junior Tom Forsee.
President and Mrs. M.B. Adams had left for Mansfield, Ohio, to visit their son
just minutes before the fire started. They were intercepted at Williamstown, KY,
and returned to Georgetown before the fire was extinguished.
Losses totaled over $400,000 with 75 per cent of the library's contents, valued at $150,000, being destroyed.
Dean Robert Hinton estimated the fire destroyed about $10,000 in biology equipment.
Professors, who had offices in the building, lost personal libraries, manuscripts, and records of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Volunteers did save most of the equipment and material in the art department, located in the old gymnasium.
Recovery would prove difficult, particularly since the building was severely underinsured. The structure and its contents, exclusive of the library, valued at $200,000, were insured at $57,000. President Adams and college officials initiated a plan to raise funds from Georgetown and Scott County citizens and from Kentucky Baptists to rebuild the heating plant and chapel.
Classes and assemblies continued uninterrupted the Monday after the fire. Biology laboratories relocated in the balcony of Alumni Gymnasium.
John L. Hill Chapel
Dedicated in 1949.
Twenty years had elapsed before a new chapel was built.
Between 1930 and 1949, chapel services were held at Georgetown Baptist Church, and then in Lewis Auditorium of Giddings Hall.
Special Collections and Archives Ensor Learning Resource Center Georgetown College
Arts & Crafts Building
The Arts & Crafts Building, completed in 1931, housed the library between 1940
and 1953 when Cooke Memorial Library was completed. The building was razed in
1996 to allow for construction of the Ensor Learning Resource Center.
Special Collections and Archives Ensor Learning Resource Center Georgetown College
Alumni Gymnasium
Alumni
Gymnasium replaced the old gymnasium in the chapel building in 1926.
Biology classes were held here for a time immediately after the fire.
Belle of the Blue, 1931
Giddings Hall (Circa 1929)
Giddings
Hall housed the Bible classes, library (1930-40), and the chapel (1940-49).
Rucker Hall
Built
in 1895 as a women's dormitory, chapel convened in Euepian Hall, the meeting
place for the women's literary society.
The Maskrafters occasionally performed plays in the hall as well.
Special Collections and Archives Ensor Learning Resource Center Georgetown College
Euepian Society
The
women's literary society, Euepian, was in Rucker Hall, across from the Chapel on
Jackson Street.
Pawling Hall
Philosophy,
education, and economics classes met in Pawling Hall.
Georgetown Baptist Church
The
congregation opened its doors for use by the college immediately after the fire.
Chapel was held in the sanctuary.
Photograph courtesy of Georgetown-Scott County Museum