Western Kentucky University released early designs this month for its planned $75 million interior renovation of its historic Cherry Hall.
Students, alumni and community members weren’t satisfied.
Hundreds of comments flooded social media posts showing the designs, many critical of the new look proposed by architectural firm Gensler.
“Just add the accessible entrances, more outlets, and better air/heat,” one comment read. “‘Historic Cherry Hall’ you say as you strip it of all its history and character to turn it into a stark modern wasteland.”
Others described the design as “generic” and “sterile,” comparing it to corporate headquarters and hospitals rather than a historical icon.
Chalk appeared on the steps of the building less than a day after the announcement, pleading “Cherry Hall deserves better,” “modernism sucks,” and “try again WKU.”
A Change.org petition called “Save Historic Cherry Hall” surpassed 1,000 signatures from those unhappy with the plan.
That frustration was amplified by plans to demolish the adjacent Faculty House, a log cabin built by WKU students in 1921 with locally sourced timber.
President Timothy Caboni defended the plans before WKU’s Board of Regents, saying these designs took into account recommendations from a group of faculty and staff volunteers.
The updated designs call for additional classroom space, better accessibility, updated bathrooms and a modernized HVAC system.
Preservationists Weigh-in
The Bowling Green-area Landmark Trust, consisting of residents and businesses focused on architectural preservation and protection, rebuked the plan in a letter to WKU and Caboni.
“Should WKU’s proposed action move forward, nearly a century of alumni will see their memories mutilated along with Cherry Hall,” the letter reads. “And the contributions of our ancestors who built the Faculty House will be permanently discarded.”
Caboni stated the Faculty House’s removal was necessary for Cherry Hall’s renovation, but ultimately paused the plan after public backlash.
He told WKU’s Board of Regents they will assess whether the Faculty House could instead be relocated elsewhere.
Tommy Hines, a Landmark Trust board member and executive director of the South Union Shaker Village, is a third-generation alumnus of WKU. He hopes the structure can be saved.
“It’s always nice to have a building where it was, but I could never argue with moving it as a last hope for that structure,” Hines said. “Log buildings can usually be moved. Obviously, it’ll be much easier than moving a brick structure.”
Hines said the overall plan for Cherry Hall falls short of honoring the building’s architectural heritage. He said renovating historic structures can be positive so long as it goes hand-in-hand with preservation efforts.
While Cherry Hall’s exterior will remain untouched, Hines said the renovations will “change the whole complexion of the inside.”
“You can clearly see that they’ve kept the marble staircase and the banisters, which are very important part of that building,” he said, “but the plan makes it look like so many buildings you see today that have big, bright, white, open sterile spaces that don’t give any hint of the past whatsoever.”
A Present Past
Hines said he and other alumni want to feel “a sense of place” when they return to campus years after graduating. He said the campus has changed drastically in recent years, often for the better, but wiping away historic elements is a mistake.
“In order to make alumni feel like a part of what is there now, you’re going to have to think about that cooperation between progress and preservation,” Hines says.
It would benefit the university to include preservationists in future renovation discussions across campus, Hines says. Doing so can help modernize a space without sacrificing its character and culture.
“I’ve seen people do it right, and you can walk into these spaces and they feel just like they did 100 years ago, but they’re not necessarily old,” Hines says. “They feel contemporary, but you’re still able to retain the original features and concepts that the architect had in mind at the beginning.”
Hines believes that 50 years from now, the proposed redesign of Cherry Hall won’t hold up aesthetically the way its current iteration has.
“What we do right now in 2025, especially this type of architectural change to the interior of the building, will be outdated. Things change so quickly, but that classical architecture, staying with the original intent an architect had, you can hardly ever argue that it doesn’t stand the test of time.”
