Page 103 - ThePhoenix1996-97

,', " Thursday, February 20, 1997 - Page 6 NEWS Old Gill Gym Fire Photos by continued from front in INSICE THE ing new carpeting and freshly painted walls. Nathan Birdsall By the beginning of the spring semester late January, athletic department faculty were able to return to their offices. Although athletic teams have been forced TION to share PELC during their workout sessions, DESTRUC exercise science and physical education classes have been relatively unaffected. The military science department, how- ever, has suffered greatly as a result of the fire. The equipment which was housed in the basement of Old Gill was completely destroyed as well as a number of items in the offices. The upper section of the brick wall fac- ing the front entrance needed to be re- moved which resulted in a lengthy reloca- tion. Only recently have faculty been able to begin returning to their offices and the first weeks of the semester found staff and students traveling to classrooms in PELC where makeshift offices were set up, to Daniel McLea where equipment was be- ing stored, to the Forum for lab, and 10 Hill Hall for classes. The future of the athletic area in Old Gill is still being debated by school offi- cials. However, it is likely that only minor improvements will be made during recon- struction. The cost for the cleanup and re- building is astounding, reaching as high as millions of dollars. However, due to extensive insurance coverage, it is unlikely that the WMC budget will be greatly af- fected. I The cause of the fire is still unknown, although officials have been able to rule our rhe possibility of criminal activity. BY EMILY STAMATHIS chirecmre will remain. According to Never the less, the fact remains that a SrajfWriler WMC Directorof Athletics Dr. 1. Rich- 49 year old campus landmark has been de- Gill Gymnasium, now awaiting re- ard Carpenter, this could be possible stroyed, giving students and staff first- construction after a tragic fire over because the outer walls of Gill Gym hand knowledge of the rapidity with which January term, became a pan of the consist offour thick layers of brick. a building, and the lives it touches, can be Western Maryland College campus in "It's virtually indestructible," Car- affected by one of nature's greatest forces. 1938. Many of those who participated penter said. "No fire can reach enough in its building, or witnessed it, are still heat to penetrate that." pan of the WMC community. ''When Isay WMC is my lifeblood, BarbaraHomeff,associatedean for it is because of what my family did first-year students, has a special con- here," Dean Homeff said. nection with the gym. At age 19, her Other WMC faculty members and father helped build it. Dean Homeff graduates have fond memories of Gill said her father had faith in the longev- Gymnasium as well. Health Services ity of the building, which was said to Physician Dr. Daniel Welliver lived on be the premiere facility of its time. campus in the Forlines building start- "My dad used to say that floor ingin 1942. would last forever. You don't foresee a Welliver remembers the gym as the tragedy like a fire," she said. ceraerofwesem Maryland's social ac- Dean Homeff witnessed the blaze tivities. "We held parties.dances, every- on New Year's Eve morning. As re- thing was centered around Gill Gym," ported in a January I Baltimore Sua he said. article, the firewas sponed at 7: 15 um., "During the heyday of the career of and brought under control by Ip.m. the BaitimoreColts, they practiced here When DeanHomeffheardthe gym every summer," Welliver said. was about to collapse, she said it was Fern Hitchcock, who still lives in anemoc:ionalexperiencetbatshewasn't Westminster, came to WMC as a fresh- able to watch. She said the gym was man in 1944,andhassimilarmemories like a little piece ofher fatherthat would of Gill Gym as a campus hot spot. AU always be on campus. the military balls, dances and proms Dean Homeff also treasured the were held there. fact that the gym's architecture was He remembers this as a time when consistent with other buildings on cam- women had a 7 p.1TLcurfew, then were pus, giving WMC a unified and his- allowed out of their dorms for one more toric look. Gill Gym was renovated in hour at 9 p.m. 1984 when the Gill Physical Educa- ''We dressed in tuxedos and the girls tion Learning Center was built, and in long dresses," Hitchcock said of the new offices were added as welL But events held in the gym. Dean Horneff felt that by keeping the "It was a big deal. The place would traditionailookofthe gym's facade in- bejamrned." tact, the history of the college was also Hitchcock said he had a lot of nos- being preserved. talgia come back to liim when the build- She said she hopes that when the ing burned, since it has been a part of gym is rebuilt, this continuity in the ar- his life on and off since 1944.