Latest news with #LizCarey
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lexington history: How an iconic UK building burned down and was rebuilt
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city's history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange. For more than 100 years, the University of Kentucky's administration building stood on the university's campus. Soldiers from both World Wars trained on its lawns. Presidents campaigned at its doors. Student activists protested there. And on May 15, 2001, it was destroyed by a fire. Built in 1880, the four-story Main Building housed university administration and classrooms for UK, including the president's office, conference rooms and a visitor's center. Dedicated on Feb. 15, 1882, it was the only remaining building from when the school was originally State College. At the time, securing funding for the building had been difficult, so State College President James Patterson pledged his entire personal wealth as collateral to see the $81,000 project completed. The original Main Building featured a cupola with a clock and a captain's walk, but the cupola shrunk as the years went on and eventually, the roof took on a gabled appearance. In 1918, the campus post office and bookstore were located in the basement of the building, and a cafeteria was added as well, but those were eventually relocated. The building originally housed the college armory, classrooms used by the Commandant of Cadets, a shop, a natural history museum, two laboratories, several academic departments and a small chapel. In 1948, it was renamed the Administration Building. On May 15, 2001, the building was undergoing renovations when a soldering torch being used on the copper cornice started a fire. The fire destroyed the roof and severely damaged the rest of the building, gutting the upper two floors and flooding the lower floors. 'It's been the heart of the University of Kentucky,' President Charles Wethington said at the time. 'At one point it was the University of Kentucky.' Shortly after the fire, the Board of Trusteesgave the approval to rebuild at a cost of $17.4 million. When completed, the building had grown from its original 30,700 square feet to more than 43,000 square feet with four floors and two balconies overlooking Patterson Plaza. The building reopened on Oct. 25, 2004. Today, it's home to several offices, including UK President Eli Capilouto's. Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tragedy struck 58 years ago when an airplane crashed at Blue Grass Field, killing 9
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city's history - some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange. It was the worst aviation accident in Central Kentucky's history at the time, and it left nine people, including four University of Kentucky professors, dead. Reports indicate that it was a clear, breezy Monday afternoon on April 3, 1967, when a twin-engine Beech 18, called '37 George' crashed 1.5 miles off of the end of a runway at Blue Grass Airport. The plane was a chartered flight that had just returned to Lexington from Louisville. The plane had been rented as one of two planes to fly a group of people back to Louisville to catch a connecting flight to Roanoke, Virginia. It was considered a routine flight, officials said at the time. Around 4 p.m., eight passengers boarded 37 George and taxied out to Runway 33, facing Keeneland. The plane took off without incident. Directly behind the plane was a small Cessna flown by Don Duckworth, a former police officer who flew the Cessna for a local radio station as a 'traffic watch.' Duckworth said 37 George looked sluggish as it took off, like it was struggling to gain altitude. After it took off, he said the left wing of the plane dipped, then the plane disappeared. According to Duckworth, the next thing he saw was a ball of fire and smoke. The fire was engulfed in flames. All eight passengers and the pilot perished. Officials later determined that during the plane's initial climb, the left engine caught fire. The pilot decided to return to the airport for an emergency landing, but when he made the turn lost control of the plane. The plane dove into the ground and crashed on the field. According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives, the plane was improperly loaded which was considered to be a contributing factor to the crash. Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
