02 Nov Letter to the Editor: Live in Fear if You Walk Near KSU Limestone Buildings

Drusilla Clarke | The Manhattan Mercury

Live in fear if you walk near KSU limestone buildings, for they are crumbling, if you are to believe a recent assertion by Ross Hill of Belvue, Kan., in an attempt to augment his argument that the Pottawatomie County Courthouse, made of the same stone, should be razed. Perhaps enlightened folks at KSU attended to a previous issue, for they have recently updated and joined by a modern structure Seaton and Regnier Halls, both venerable and apparently stable and functional buildings. The Pottawatomie County Office building, a 1910 limestone schoolhouse converted to today’s use, and my limestone house, dating from the 1860’s, in addition to innumerable other limestone buildings (e.g. Riley County Courthouse) stand firmly after a century of often inclement weather and continuous occupation. Mr. Hill, in his attempt to forward his argument, ironically cited many “historical facts” about quarrying, kilns and mortar mixing, and said several times that “history was interesting.” Indeed, that is one of the persuasive reasons to save our historic courthouse, maintaining and updating its interior and attending to what its needs are to remain functional for today’s citizens. Those who have dismissed the relevance of our landmarks and summarily destroyed them live to regret their act. The secondoldest courthouse in our state— Pottawatomie County Courthouse—still in operation deserves the saving hands of the young, the elderly and those in power. Drusilla Clarke 7810 Hopkins Creek Road, St. George