Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife
There is a Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia.
Back in the days when Andrew Carnegie was presiding over his empire, he occasionally travelled on his railroad into West Virginia, to look after his anthracite coal mines. The coal was baked into coke, which was used in the open-hearth production of steel in his mill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
During his extended stays, Carnegie found genteel accommodations with the Headmaster of the Lewisburg College for Women, whereafter Carnegie donated a fine little free-standing auditorium to the college.
By the 1970s the college had closed its doors and the building fell into disrepair and was condemned by the state fire marshal. It was to be torn down, but Grandfather and a little band of rebels said “No way!”
Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg
With all the resources Lewisburgians have, intellectual, cultural and financial, we thought it was gauche in extremis to let a gift from a great philanthropist be destroyed.
So, we got a bill through the legislature exempting Carnegie Hall from West Virginia law requiring state-owned assets to be disposed of by public auction and putting it in the hands of our newly-formed, non-profit corporation, which restored it as it remains today.
Along the way, an old Chinese saying came to mind: “Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan” and, as the most cantankerous curmudgeon on Carnegie Hall Incorporated’s founding board, it sometimes fell to Grandfather to put off the new “fathers” who deemed themselves more worthy to lead the hall than us neophytes.
To Grandfather’s regret, the hall’s performances have degenerated — but that’s Grandfather’s opinion only! — from classical theatre and music to that preferred by callous youth.
But above all, the hall stands tall.
“They Can’t Take That Away from Me” – George Gershwin
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee is an octogenarian from West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
Good job, RD. I hope that beautiful building stands a long time.
I remember the 70s when it seemed every building with a busted window should be torn down. It seems that we’re the last generation to appreciate the construction of old buildings that will last for many more generations – as opposed to the ticky-tacky boxes they build now that don’t have one foot of trim that’s not completely necessary.
Amen, Gee.
I’m too old to contribute “hands on” to architecture any more – just resting on my laurels (lightly – mustn’t crush them …).
Here they are. “Grandfather Says”: Articles 1, 15, 17, 21, 25, 32 and 38.
We have, in the town I grew up in, the Stewart Free Library. In the 1890’s a man by the name of Levi Stewart built a free public library in town, the most impressive library in central Maine. The second floor of the building is a large auditorium where, to this day, there are monthly performances by the local theater group. Over the past several years, the townspeople, seeing the value of a free public library and the benefit of this building, raised several million dollars to renovate and restore the old library, complete with modern mechanical systems including an elevator! No small feat for a small town, but worth every penny.
Great to hear that, Jason.
Civilization lives, here and there …
Jason, your mention of an elevator got me to thinking.
Our Carnegie Hall has one now, but that came in a later administration, with a highly organized fund-raising effort and all of that. Our crash salvage effort relied on our sweat equity, our first director’s success getting donations from within our ranks and from wealthy sympathizers.
The first thing we had to do was shore up the roof with six steel posts, going from rafter supports, through the ceiling and down through the floor to concrete footings poured in the basement. Those posts remain today – evidence, I suppose, of their success throughout the expensive restoration that followed
Andrew Carnegie was a notoriously thrifty man and he would have been proud of us, I think. We only spent $28,000 to get the hall re-opened.
Carnegie Hall today:
https://www.carnegiehallwv.org/
Having just returned from a mission trip to Webster County, WV, I was fascinated by this article. What a wonderful effort it was to restore such a fine looking building. I admire your comments and philosophy in general, especially your thoughts about investing, in every sense of the word, in the place where you live. Real estate is real estate.
Thank you, Steve!
I sincerely hope you are getting as much satisfaction out of life as I have.