Razing Cole Hall would be mistake

Tearing down Cole Hall is a mistake.

I'm not trying to minimize the tragedy, but to tear down a perfectly good building is not the solution.

A memorial should be erected inside or outside the existing structure to honor those who died or where injured.

Did Virginia Tech tear down its classroom building after their tragedy? Did Springfield tear down the state building after the security officer was shot a few years ago? Did the University of Iowa tear down their building after a professor and students were killed in the early '90s? And what of Columbine High School in Colorado; is it still standing?

Renovate Cole as necessary to change the inside if need be. Memorialize it, but leave it stand.

It is the taxpayer and the student's tuition that will pay for a new building.

If the governor wants to spend $40 million, let him establish a memorial scholarship fund for those who died.

There is more that the university can do with that money than to destroy a usable classroom.

Jack Roderick

Batavia