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NIU's Cole Hall to be demolished
Michael Tarm (AP)
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
DEKALB, Ill. (AP) - The sprawling complex where a gunman killed five Northern Illinois University students in a lecture hall then committed suicide on the auditorium's stage will be demolished and replaced, but the new structure will not stand on the site of the slayings.
"What I've heard from parents and students is that the site should be consecrated," Northern president John Peters said Wednesday as the governor announced plans to seek $40 million in emergency state money to fund a replacement for Cole Hall.
Peters said a privately funded memorial of some sort - possibly a garden and sculptures - would instead occupy the land where the hall now stands, near the center of the 25,000-student campus. He planned to seek input from victims' families.
"The first thing I'm going to do is call those families. We've all become very close to them," Peters said. "They want to stay close, especially with the memorial on the site of the Cole Hall footprint."
Gov. Rod Blagojevich meanwhile called on lawmakers to approve his $40 million request as quickly as possible. He acknowledged concerns about state budget deficits make such spending difficult, but claimed the money could be found and possibly funded through long-term bonds.
"Cole Hall will be torn down, but what happened there will never be forgotten," Blagojevich said.
Former Northern student Steven Kazmierczak burst into one of Cole Hall's auditoriums on Valentine's Day, carrying at least four guns, and fired dozens of shots into a geology class, killing five and wounding 18 people before turning the gun on himself.
Still, students seemed torn about plans to destroy the building.
"Some people can't stand to look at it, and others see it as a memorial as it is," 19-year-old freshman Cassie Dodd said. "Personally, I think it should stay. It's a part of us now."
Junior Jessica Burnside disagreed.
"It's a trophy of a tragic, destructive event," said Burnside, 21. "Nobody wants to be reminded of it."
"What I've heard from parents and students is that the site should be consecrated," Northern president John Peters said Wednesday as the governor announced plans to seek $40 million in emergency state money to fund a replacement for Cole Hall.
Peters said a privately funded memorial of some sort - possibly a garden and sculptures - would instead occupy the land where the hall now stands, near the center of the 25,000-student campus. He planned to seek input from victims' families.
"The first thing I'm going to do is call those families. We've all become very close to them," Peters said. "They want to stay close, especially with the memorial on the site of the Cole Hall footprint."
Gov. Rod Blagojevich meanwhile called on lawmakers to approve his $40 million request as quickly as possible. He acknowledged concerns about state budget deficits make such spending difficult, but claimed the money could be found and possibly funded through long-term bonds.
"Cole Hall will be torn down, but what happened there will never be forgotten," Blagojevich said.
Former Northern student Steven Kazmierczak burst into one of Cole Hall's auditoriums on Valentine's Day, carrying at least four guns, and fired dozens of shots into a geology class, killing five and wounding 18 people before turning the gun on himself.
Still, students seemed torn about plans to destroy the building.
"Some people can't stand to look at it, and others see it as a memorial as it is," 19-year-old freshman Cassie Dodd said. "Personally, I think it should stay. It's a part of us now."
Junior Jessica Burnside disagreed.
"It's a trophy of a tragic, destructive event," said Burnside, 21. "Nobody wants to be reminded of it."
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Jason Ruel
posted 2/28/08 @ 9:25 PM CST
I understand why they'd want to tear down the building. I understand rebuilding elsewhere with a memorial where it stands. I am all for that. I am all for naming classrooms and lecture halls after the victims. (Continued…)
Jimmy Peterson
posted 2/29/08 @ 10:42 AM CST
Not to undermine what happened there. No one in their right mind would deny that it was anything other than a senseless tragedy, but tearing down the building is ridiculous and a waste of funds. (Continued…)
Otis
posted 3/01/08 @ 1:50 PM CST
So if another wacko walks into the new $40 million building and starts killing more students will they tear that down and build a $60 million building? Where does it end. (Continued…)
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