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5. Restoring a Legacy
- Texas State Historical Association
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100 Chapter 5 Restoring a Legacy IT PROBABLY NEVER OCCURRED to most of those who worked, studied, and sometimes played inside Old Red that one day the building might be gone. But such a possibility became a genuine threat as UTMB advanced into a world in which many historical structures were slowly becoming obsolete. The task of preserving Old Red became a formidable one, requiring years of effort by a vast array of determined and talented individuals. However, the results of this impressive campaign to save Old Red and its subsequent renovation continue to thrill and delight the beholder. UTMB changed dramatically in the postwar decades. Having withstood the turbulence of the Spies era and World War II, massive storms, and a manmade disaster in Texas City, the school turned its energy toward academic growth and development.As chief administrative officer, Chauncey Leake fiercely promoted UTMB as an institution of national and international renown.With the encouragement of Leake and his successor , Truman G. Blocker Jr., UTMB faculty in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s assumed more large-scale research projects than ever before.Donald Duncan, GeorgeWilliam Eggers,Ardroozny Packchanian, Morris Pollard, and other professors utilized federal and private dollars to conduct biomedical research. Between 1946 and 1966, UTMB faculty received $10 million in research grants from the United States Public Health Service alone. The training of physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals was also central to its postwar mission. The school experienced a dramatic growth in doctoral and master’s degree programs that culminated in 1973 with the establishment of a separate Graduate School of the Biomedical Sciences.1 Burgeoning research and teaching programs required greater classroom space and technologically refined research facilities. In support of these initiatives, UTMB added to its campus the Gail Borden Laboratory Building (1952), the Surgical Research Laboratories (1964), the Libbie Moody Thompson Basic Sciences Building (1971), and the Moody 101 old red Medical Library (1972).Aided by state, federal, and private funds, UTMB expanded its care of the sick. It added a new John Sealy Hospital (1954), a new Children’s Hospital (1978), the Jennie Sealy Hospital (1968), the Shriners Burns Institute (1966), and facilities for ambulatory care (1966). The medical school increasingly took on a new look.2 Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Old Red, now officially named the Ashbel Smith Building, continued to function much as it always had. Students attended lectures and demonstrations in classrooms and the east amphitheater, freshmen dissected cadavers in the anatomy laboratory on the third floor, and staff occupied office space. For many years, the basement of Old Red served as a popular “hang-out” for students.According to alumnus Jay Collie Fish (class of 1958) bridge tournaments and other recreational activities were favorite pastimes, especially for the many students who lacked the luxury of a car or television set. Popular bridge tournaments and other recreational activities were held on a regular basis.3 Still,time and Mother Nature took a heavy toll on Old Red.As UTMB expanded, academic activity and resources began to stream away from its institutional heart. Sophisticated technology requirements rendered many of Old Red’s spaces obsolete. As classrooms and laboratories moved to sleeker, more specialized buildings, Old Red increasingly became a space for auxiliary services. Over time, the structure’s once vital interior was downgraded to house the school bookstore, a postal substation, and repair shops. Changing needs over the years led to extensive remodeling of the interior.Dropped ceilings were installed to cover mechanical systems.The original stately classroom and laboratory spaces were sectioned off for office and storage.The grand lecture room-amphitheater on the west end of the building was removed and the third floor extended into the void. Maintenance to the building became segmented, attendant only to the needs of particular pockets of space.4 The exterior of Old Red also began showing considerable wear and tear.The natural elements and alterations to the exterior began to whittle away at the original character of the building. Decades of storms and harsh,corrosive sea winds marred its beautiful facade.Fire escapes installed on the exterior diminished the structure’s visual elegance.In time,boarded windows, missing panes, cracks in the masonry, weeds sprouting through large cracks in the masonry, and tiles absent from the roof affirmed structural neglect and decay.5 In 1961 Hurricane Carla, the largest hurricane of record in Texas, struck the Island with wind gusts of up to 175 miles per hour. Coming ashore...