UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 26, Page 1
April 4, 1996
Daugherty Hall study area a highlight of new center

     Blending part of Newark's past with the best architectural design
and building methods of the present was a primary objective throughout
the planning and construction of the new student center.
     On March 21, more than 100 members of the Newark Historical
Society were invited to a program in renovated Daugherty Hall and a
tour of the soon-to-be-open campus facility.
     David Hollowell, senior vice president, and David Ames, professor
of urban affairs and public policy and geography and director of the
Center for Historic Architecture and Engineering, provided information
on the building and the University's emphasis on maintaining the
historic character of the area between Old College and Delaware
Avenue.
     Graduate students Mark Parker Miller, art history, and Julie
Darsie, urban affairs and public policy/ historic perservation,
provided an historical perspective on the devlopment of the campus
landscape and buildings.
     Hollowell said University efforts, particularly since 1990, have
demonstrated a serious commitment to historical preservation,
including the renovation of the Visitors Center on South College
Avenue as well as Elliott Hall, the George Evans House and Raub Hall
on West Main Street. Currently, he added, renovations are ongoing in
Alumni Hall, Recitation Hall and the Victorian-era buildings on
Delaware Avenue.
     Daugherty Hall-formerly the First Presbyterian Church of
Newark-serves as the centerpiece of the new student center.
     Hollowell said that once it was determined that the 1868 building
was structurally sound, it was decided to make it an integral part of
the new building. The result is a completely renovated quiet study
area that also will serve as a site for special programs and
receptions.
     With the removal of the drop ceiling in Daugherty Hall, Hollowell
said, a few of the original chandeliers were discovered. These were
preserved and additional reproductions made to provide some of the
lighting for the room, and they now hang from the room's replastered
arched ceiling.
     Visitors from the Newark Historical Society also were impressed
by the releaded and restored stained glass windows. Restored glass for
two other windows will be backlit once they are installed in the
alcove that had served as a part of the church's sanctuary.
     "I think the area has turned out very well," Hollowell said. "I
believe it will be a very popular area for quiet study and for special
functions."
     According to Bob Thomas, president of the Newark Historical
Society, "I think they did an excellent job. It's typical University
fashion, they cut no corners.
     "Once the public sees it, they will be very impressed with the
craftsmanship.
     "I think it is indicative of the University's interest in
historic preservation that the Newark Historical Society is the first
group to be permitted to meet here."
     A bronze plaque will be mounted adjacent to the dark gray,
exposed rock of the original exterior of the historic building.
     The stone can be seen while walking through the new student
center's main hall.
     The plaque reads:

                            DAUGHERTY HALL
        The   First   Presbyterian  Church   of   Newark   was
        constructed  in 1868 and, when the congregation  moved
        in  1967  to  a  new home at 292 West  Main  St.,  was
        acquired  by  the  University  of  Delaware.  Home  to
        several  University  functions  over  the  years,  the
        original,  historic sanctuary of the church,  restored
        in  conjunction  with  construction  of  this  student
        center,  was reopened in 1996 as a special study  area
        for the campus community.

     Hollowell said a related project involves the carillon, located
in the tower of Memorial Hall. That system provides hourly chimes and
music to the central campus and other remote areas via speakers
located in the Pencader residence hall complex and in Worrilow Hall.
By fall, Hollowell said, new speakers should be operational in the
bell tower of Daugherty Hall and the carillon's outdated tape system
will be replaced with a state-of-the-art digitized computer system.
     In planning the new student center, Hollowell said, one of the
objectives was to revitalize activity in the area of campus that is
referred to in some documents as the Old College National Register
Historic District.
     There are 23 historic properties adjacent to and in the line of
sight of the new student center, he said, and the new building has
been planned to serve as a visible and usable intersection of the
University's 19th- and 20th-century campuses.
     In a 1994 report, Ames pointed out that the decision to construct
the new student center on Main Street aimed to fill an open space and
integrate existing area buildings into the life of the campus. In
addition, a free-standing Daugherty Hall was more vulnerable, he said,
and would "be a constant invitation to future University
administrations to demolish the entire church and reuse the site..."
     Hollowell added that the decision to designate Daugherty Hall as
the dominant architectural element of the new student center has
assured its historic preservation and, more importantly, its continued
appropriate use.
                                                         -Ed Okonowicz