Never Forget: The Third Anniversary of the Uptown Demolition

By Ryan Reed

Today marks the third anniversary of the demolition of the Uptown Theater and the adjacent Knapp Home.  Looking out your window on this cold blustery day, it is hard to believe it was an unusually warm Spring day when a massive backhoe punched a hole in the north wall of the theater.  What is even harder to believe is eight months prior to its demolition, the Rolla Business Association strongly recommended “the Uptown Theater be renovated and revived into a discount movie house” as part of a downtown revitalization plan.  Perhaps the icing on the cake is the historic theater was demoed for the alumni association of a university who has been internationally recognized as a leader in sustainability.  The proposed demolition created an outcry by the students of Missouri S&T and longtime residents of Rolla for the retention and adaptive reuse of the theater.  However, the theater was demoed for an alumni house that has yet to be built nor has the funds in place for its construction.

Image courtesy of the Rolla, MO Hometown Non-Censored Facebook Page

In September 2009, the future of the Uptown was bright.  The Meramec Regional Planning Commission in conjunction with the Rolla Downtown Business Association produced the City of Rolla Downtown Plan.  The intention of the plan was to be a vehicle for new life, economic vigor and long-term viability of downtown Rolla.  Among the marketing plans and strategies was a detailed plan for the renovation of the Uptown Theater into a discount movie house.  The plan stated;

“This starts with contacting the present owner and contracting a developer to plan and execute the renovation. Advertizing the new discount movie house is to begin when renovation begins, and extend well after its opening to the public. Research and ascertain the most popular movies among college students (Star Trek marathon, Star Wars series, Ladies Night, Rocky Horror Picture Show night) and advertise the movies to be played in the first few months. Offer student concessions. Bring in famous personality for the grand opening and put movie house into operation.”

The plan estimated the renovation of the Uptown would cost a minimum of $300,000.  The feasibility of the renovation of the Uptown would have increased with the use of historic tax credits.  The historic theater, designed in 1941 by Carl and Robert Boller of Kansas City, could have been individually nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.  The Boller Brothers designed over 100 theaters across the nation.  Several of their theaters have been placed on the National Register including the KiMo is Albuquerque, New Mexico, which was saved from the wrecking ball and has undergone an extensive restoration.  If placed on the National Register, the Uptown would have been eligible for state and federal tax credits.  Utilizing these incentives would have credited  45% of the rehabilitation cost in taxes or the credits could have been sold to a bank or another developer.

Flyer by Missouri S&T student, Margret Powell

One month after the creation of the City of Rolla Downtown Plan, the Missouri Department of Economic Development announced that Rolla was selected to participate in the Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) Initiative.  The DREAM Initiative was a program designed to help communities to more efficiently and effectively engage in downtown redevelopment and revitalization efforts.  Being selected for the initiative meant that Rolla gained access to financial assistance. Specifically, Rolla would receive $160,000 from the state for infrastructure improvements, historic preservation and job creation.  One of the focus areas of the initiative in Rolla was the north entrance to downtown area on Pine Street which included the historic theater.  John Petersen, the Director of Rolla Community Development considered the Uptown an “keystone building” in the revitalization of downtown.

It appeared that the Uptown’s future was secure.  Financing was in place for the revitalization of Pine and Rolla Streets and the historic theater would play an integral part of these efforts.  This outlook drastically changed in three months.  By January 2010, plans were set into motion of the demolition of the Uptown.  Within eight months of Rolla’s designation as a DREAM community, the Uptown would be gone.

On Friday, January 22, 2010, Marianne Ward, the Director of the Missouri S&T Alumni Association announced plans for an alumni center at the northeast corner of Pine and Eleventh Streets.  After inspecting eleven different sites around Rolla, the alumni association chose the location due to its proximity to campus and its connection with downtown (typically know as uptown to Rollites.)  The Director also stated the Uptown and adjoining Knapp Home would be razed because the reuse of these buildings was not an option.  These statements counteracted months of research conducted by the City of Rolla and the Rolla Business Association which strongly recommended the theater’s reuse as a key element of downtown revitalization.  The statements of demolition by the Director of the alumni association also counteract the sustainability goals of the university. 

At the turn of the twenty-first century, Missouri S&T became the first university in the nation to voluntarily commit to an Environmental Management System (EMS).  An EMS provides a structured approach to the planning and implementation of environmental protection procedures using the guidelines set forth under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).  These guidelines encourage creative and relevant solutions from within the organization itself to reduce its impact on the environment and our natural resources.  To further their commitment, MS&T implemented a sustainability policy to minimize the university’s pollutants and advocate environmental stewardship. Stated within the purpose of their policy is the continual improvement of environmental stewardship with respect to materials, water and energy use.

The university further advocated sustainability through the Student Design and Experimental Learning Center (SDELC).  The center allows experimental learning through projects supporting multi-disciplinary student research.  These projects include initiatives in solar technology to limit our dependence on finite resources.  The projects include the solar decathlon and solar housing which have given the university international recognition concerning solar technology.  Currently, the university is in the midst of creating a geothermal energy system that would cut in half its energy consumption and reduce its carbon footprint by 25,000 metric tons per year.  Yet, the university’s alumni association is willing to demolition two buildings that ended up in a landfill.  The retention and adaptive reuse of our historic buildings also plays a massive role in sustainability. 13% of solid waste in Missouri landfills comes from demolition waste. Nationally it accounts for 30% of solid waste in landfills.  The adaptive reused of the Uptown could have been another feather in the cap for the university in their goal towards sustainability.  Instead, it created dissention among native Rollites, university students and alumni.

Photo courtesy of the Save the Uptown Rolla! Facebook Page

The public outcry against the demolition of the Uptown was strong.  Within weeks of the proposal, university students band together with the purpose of stopping the demolition.  On February 3, 2010, a protest was held on campus.  Missouri S&T senior, Josh Spehn stated to the Rolla Daily News “We are opposed to the sale, we don’t agree with its proposed use.”  His sentiment resounded with thousands of people.  A petition was created to stop the demolition and over 1,200 signatures were secured.  A poll taken by the Rolla Daily News to gauge the future of the Uptown revealed that out of 1,279 individuals, 63% of them wanted to keep the theater in place.  A Facebook page, Save the Uptown Rolla! was created to raise awareness of the demolition.  Days before the demolition, the Uptown became littered with graffiti concerning the looming demolition.  Statements that graced the building read “The Uptown will never be forgotten”,  “This is why I’m never joining the Miner Alumni Association”  and “Avenge Me!”  What is interesting is the initial push to save the Uptown came from university students and facility.  Their momentum swelled and quickly involved alumni, natives and Rolla expats.  Even with the massive outcry against demolition, the Uptown fell to the wrecking ball on March 24, 2010.

The demolition of the Uptown was a turning point concerning the preservation of our historic buildings and retaining a walkable and sustainable community.  It has also created a greater awareness of the threats against buildings with local significance including the Trachoma Hospital, Rayl Cafeteria and the Chamberlain House.  It has also created awareness of a number less significant buildings that create a neighborhood.  This sense of a neighborhood is often carried by a number of buildings that none of which would be individually highly significant or eligible for the National Register. However, the retention of these less significant buildings attaches people to their community and provides a sense of place and connects us to our shared heritage.

The Missouri University of Science and Technology has been very beneficial to Rolla since its establishment in 1870.  It is the largest employer in Rolla.  It has helped our population grow and has put us on the international spectrum for its engineering program.  However, the university has not been good stewards of our shared community.  The loss of the Uptown and the proposed demolition of the Trachoma Hospital (Rock Mechanics), Rayl Cafeteria and other smaller residences and commercial buildings adjacent to the university according to their Campus Master Plan is not in sync with their goal of sustainability.  The rehabilitation of our historic built environment would further the university’s commitment to their sustainability policy and EMS.  Rehabilitation and adaptive reuse could also be integrated into the curriculum of the university and be used as a learning opportunity for SDELC. The combination of these opportunities has the ability to attract more students to the university and individuals and families to Rolla while maintaining Rolla’s cultural heritage.

Let us promote a sustainable future that includes a walkable, close knit community that retains and adaptively reuses our historic built environment.   Let us have an economically viable and dense downtown.  Let us have a sustainable city that reuses existing infrastructure, decrease sprawl and saves the embodied energy of materials used in the construction of buildings.  Finally, let us never forget the demolition of the Uptown.

George Menefee: The First St. Pat

By Ryan Reed

Menefee as St. Pat in 1908.*

Every March since 1908, the canonization of St. Patrick is delegated to a mortal student to represent the patron of engineers.  The original St. Patrick was born in Scotland during 432 and was captured by Pagans and carried to Ireland. During his six years on the Emerald Isle he was enslaved as a sheep herder.  At the age of twenty, St. Patrick absconded back to Scotland only to return to Ireland by the commandment of God to convert the Pagans.  Within forty years, he converted the entire island and died an elderly man on March 17.  Rolla’s original St. Pat was from the Bluegrass state.  Known around campus as the Kentucky Colonel, he was called to the Ozarks in 1907 to study Civil and Mining Engineering. At the age of 22, he left our city for Birmingham, Alabama via Berkeley, California.

The residents of Rolla and students enrolled at the Missouri University of Science and Technology are well versed in the events of the first St. Pat’s celebration.  Students were denied a request to dismiss class to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  In retaliation, the secretly met and plotted the first Best Ever.  On Tuesday, March 17, 1908, St. Patrick arrived on a handcar.  The student body escorted him to campus where he was met by a disapproving faculty at the steps of Norwood Hall.  St. Pat approached the 29 year old director of the Missouri School of Mines, Lewis E. (Lew) Young, and asked him to bow and receive a blessing.  Young obliged and supposedly St. Pat stated, “I dub you the first Honorary Knight of St. Patrick of Rolla.”  Thus began a tradition that has lasted for over a century.

This well documented event has become legend on the university and in the city of Rolla.  What is less known is the life of the first St. Patrick, George Gilmore Menefee.  He was obviously a popular person among the student body to be chosen to portray St. Pat on that fateful day. However, very little is known about Menefee.

Menefee from Georgetown College yearbook in 1907*

George Menefee was born in Stanford, Kentucky on July 25, 1886 to Dr. John N. Menefee and Ellen Cowan.  His father was a farmer and subsequently was elected as the Mayor of Stanford.  As a child he attended Stanford public schools and excelled at his studies.  Menefee is mentioned numerous times in the local paper, The Interior Journal, as being on the honor roll of his school.  During his teenage years, Menefee was active with the local drama club.  He consistently had leading roles in plays such as “Cousin Faithful” and “A Notable Outcast.”  The Interior Journal stated in 1905 that Menefee “had been before the footlights several times in good parts.”  Menefee graduated from the Stanford Male Academy in 1905 and was accepted to attend Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky.  While attending Georgetown, Menefee immersed himself in activities and organizations.  He was a member of Delta Phi Fraternity, captain of the football team and played upright bass with the school’s music department.  For unknown reasons he left Georgetown after his sophomore year and traveled to attend the Missouri School of Mines in Rolla.

The Missouri University of Science and Technology archives has very little information concerning Menefee’s time on campus.  What is known is he only took one course in Civil and Mining Engineering.  There is currently no record of Menefee being a part of any organization on campus; however he was likely very well known among the student body.  Nicknamed the Kentucky Colonel, Menefee’s only known contribution to the university was portraying St. Patrick.  He likely had no comprehension of his impact upon the history of the university.  By the summer of 1908, Menefee left Rolla to attend the University of California-Berkeley to study chemistry.  Menefee's stay in Berkeley was brief.  By November 1909 he accepted a position as a chemist with the Lakeside Sugar Refinery in Eagle Lake, Texas.

During his adult life, Menefee worked various jobs across the country.  Prior to the United States involvement in World War I, Menefee had worked in Eagle Lake, Texas, Columbus, Ohio Birmingham, Alabama and Syracuse, New York.  His employment typically consisted of working as a salesman with a plethora of companies including the Forest Paint Company in Syracuse, New York and the Ohio Varnish Company in Birmingham, Alabama.  While crisscrossing the country, Menefee met and married native Kentuckian Hallie James Edwards.  Edwards had a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.  Menefee and his new family finally settled in Birmingham, Alabama where he would live the remainder of his life.

Georgetown College football team, 1907.  Menefee is second from left in the back row.*

The Menefee’s lived life as a typical middle class family in Birmingham.  George was employed as a manager with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.  His wife tended to the rigors of the home while her two children attended school.  In 1920, Hallie began to suffer from a prolonged cough and chest pains.  She was diagnosed with Pulmonary Tuberculosis and was admitted into the Red Mountain Tuberculosis Sanatorium near the suburb of Homewood south of Birmingham.  As her conditions worsened, Hallie was moved to the larger St. Joseph’s Sanatorium in Asheville, North Carolina.  Within months of her move, Hallie succumbed to the disease and died on December 15, 1922.

After his wife’s death Menefee met and married divorcee Beauford Terry Henderson.  Similar to Hallie, she had two children from a previous marriage.  For the remainder of his life, Menefee continued to work with Goodyear.  On August 3, 1943, George Menefee passed away in Birmingham at the age of 57.  His remains were transported back to Stanford, Kentucky and buried in the Menefee family plot at Buffalo Springs Cemetery.

George Menefee may have never known the impact he had on Rolla and the university yet for over a century we reenact the events he first acted out.  The arrival in Rolla on a handcar, the march down Pine Street and the submission of the faculty to the will of St. Pat, these acts have become tradition and Menefee will forever be held in high esteem in Rolla.

* Image of Menefee as St. Pat courtesy of the Missouri University of Science and Technology Archives.

* Image of Menefee from the Delta Phi Fraternity Courtesy of Georgetown College, Bolton Archives, The Belle of the Blue: 1907

* Image of Menefee from the Georgetown College Football Team Courtesy of Georgetown College, Bolton Archives, The Belle of the Blue: 1907 

Special thanks to Leann Arndt of the State Historic Society of Missouri-Research Center-Rolla

 

Threatened: The Missouri Trachoma Hospital

By Ryan Reed

According to the 2009 Campus Master Plan for the Missouri University of Science and  Technology, the former Missouri Trachoma Hospital (currently Rock Mechanics) is to be razed and replaced with a parking lot for the campus recreational facilities. Missouri S&T is committed to creating a sustainable campus to minimize the university's impact.  The retention and continued use of property could be another feather in the cap towards Missouri S&T's sustainability efforts.

The Former Missouri Trachoma Hospital

Trachoma, a disease afflicting the eyes, was the leading cause of blindness in the United States during the turn of the twentieth century.  The disease was particularly prevalent in a belt stretching from eastern Kentucky to eastern Oklahoma.  Known as “The Trachoma Belt,” 75% of all cases of the infection in the 1920’s occurred within this area.  To combat trachoma, President Woodrow Wilson allocated federal funds to the United States Public Health Service.  The Health Service used the funds to construct the first trachoma hospital, in Richmond, Kentucky, in September of 1913.  Ten years later, a trachoma clinic opened within an existing hospital in Rolla, MO.  The Federal Health Department decided to withdraw their management of the clinic in Rolla on March 12, 1936.  General operations of the clinic were transferred to the Missouri State Health Department.

The Missouri State Health Department deemed the facilities of the trachoma clinic in Rolla insufficient.  During the 1930’s, Missouri was paying over $280,000 a year in blind pensions to victims of trachoma.  Determined to build a facility exclusively for the treatment of trachoma, the Missouri State Legislature allotted $75,000 of state funds for the construction of a new hospital.  The federal government supplemented the state funds with $61,363 of federal funds through the Public Works Administration.  The Rolla Chamber of Commerce selected a site at the northwest corner of the intersection of highways 66 and 63.  The site, situated on a high knoll, was purchased from the Missouri School of Mines for $2,000.  A construction contract was awarded to J.E. Williams of University City, MO for $104,573.  A ceremonial ground breaking took place on January 3, 1939.  Due to the funding of a state hospital by the state of Missouri in an attempt to diminish the cost incurred to victims of trachoma, the former hospital has state wide significance.

On July 29, 1939, a cornerstone ceremony was held at the nearly completed hospital building.  The ceremony was presided over by Malvern B. Clopton, President of the Missouri State Board of Health.  In attendance were Governor Lloyd Stark and the director of the Kentucky Trachoma Hospital, Dr. Arthur McCormick.  The cornerstone was laid by Karl Vetsburg, the Grand Master of the Missouri Masonic Lodge.  During his address, Stark stated “this building is a symbol of the humanitarianism which is traditional of the people of Missouri.”  At the time, the Missouri Trachoma Hospital was the second such hospital in the nation.  Two more trachoma hospitals were constructed in Oklahoma and Arkansas.  Only four trachoma hospitals were ever in operation in the United States, thus giving the Missouri Trachoma Hospital national significance.

Laying of the cornerstone in 1939

The site also has great local significance.  Immediately south of the hospital near highway 66 is a capped well surrounded by a small wrought iron fence.  The well was once part of the first homestead located in what would become the city of Rolla.  Philadelphia native, John Webber left his home in Gallatin County, Illinois with his wife and two young children and headed west.  Webber, for unknown reasons, chose to settle on the high knoll in 1844 where the hospital now stands.  He immediately constructed a home and purchased the forty acres where his residence stood.

Thirteen years later, in 1857, Phelps County was created.   Fifty largely undeveloped acres were donated by railroad contractor, Edmund Ward Bishop to become the seat of Phelps County.  Bishop’s donation became the city of Rolla.  In the same year, the city’s boundaries were determined by Webber, Bishop and George Coppedge, another early settler, at Webber’s home.  Even the name of the new city, supposedly a phonetic spelling of the North Carolina capitol Raleigh, was agreed upon at the Webber residence.  Webber and his family remained at the home until 1876 when they moved to Edgar Springs in southern Phelps County.  Webber died in 1889 and is buried in the Rolla Cemetery.

John Webber

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the MS&T became the first university in the nation to voluntarily commit to an Environmental Management System (EMS).  An EMS provides a structured approach to the planning and implementation of environmental protection procedures using the guidelines set forth under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).  These guidelines encourage creative and relevant solutions from within the organization itself to reduce its impact on the environment and our natural resources.  To further their commitment, MS&T implemented a sustainability policy to minimize the university’s pollutants and advocate environmental stewardship. Stated within the purpose of their policy is the continual improvement of environmental stewardship with respect to materials, water and energy use.

The university further advocates sustainability through the Student Design and Experimental Learning Center (SDELC).  The center allows experimental learning through projects supporting multi-disciplinary student research.  These projects include initiatives in solar technology to limit our dependence on finite resources.  The projects include the solar decathlon and solar housing which have given the university international recognition concerning solar technology.

In contrast, the demolition of the Trachoma would counteract Missouri S&T's goals of sustainability.  The amount of waste created by the Trachoma would be astounding.  According to Richard Moe, former president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Demolishing a 50,000 square foot building creates 4,000 tons of waste, enough to fill 26 box cars - a train one-quarter mile long." Additionally, "Constructing a new 50,000 square foot building releases as much carbon as driving a car 2.8 million miles."

Recently, an eligibility assessment of the Trachoma for the National Register of Historic Place was conducted by the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in Jefferson City.  SHPO deemed the former hospital eligible for listing on the National Register for its local and state wide significance due to its association with events that had a large impact on our culture.

If you would like to voice your opinion against the proposed demolition of the former Trachoma, contact the following individuals.  Let's work together and keep this historic building, which is a viable and necessary element of Rolla's built environment.

Bill Jenks - Mayor of Rolla

Cheryl B. Schrader - Missouri S&T Chancellor

5th Ward City Council Members (where Trachoma is located)

     Jim Williams

     Carrolyn Bolin