This and that: Heave ho, Heavilon Hall
This and that: Heave ho, Heavilon Hall
Heavilon Hall on its way out. Plus, Micah Beckwith in smells like ‘Jezebel spirit.’ Braden Smith, Lafayette Jeff’s Brooks Barnhizer in preseason All-Big Ten. Governor candidate debate preview
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This and that on a Wednesday …
HEAVE HO, HEAVILON HALL: The site – though not the actual structure – that inspired Purdue’s gritty “One Brick Higher” mantra is loaded with a demolition crew this week, as the university makes good on demolition of the third iteration of Heavilon Hall.
“Got to be honest,” John Foster, a Purdue senior, said as he took pictures Wednesday morning of heavy equipment taking bites of brick and classroom space out of academic hall’s eastern wall. “Classes in there were pretty depressing. And I don’t mean what the professors were talking about. Just the inside of the place …”
The demolition of Heavilon is part of a $46.6 million project approved by Purdue trustees in 2022, including ongoing renovations of University Hall, Beering Hall and Stanley Coulter Hall. That work, according to Purdue Facilities, is expected to be done by August 2025.
Heavilon, home of Purdue’s English department and Purdue’s Writing Lab, has been in rough shape for years, including issues with ventilation, reports of mold and delays on recommendations to bring the building down. Classrooms and faculty offices in Heavilon will move once the University Hall-related projects are done. And Heavilon will come down, leaving the space behind the Purdue Memorial Union and Stewart Center open for future construction, according to plans presented to trustees in 2022.
The first two versions of Heavilon Hall included one that burned shortly after being dedicated in 1894 – famously rebuilt “one brick higher” – and a second one dating to 1895 that was demolished in 1956 to make way for the third iteration that stands there now. Or at least … for now.
The university has not announced what’s next for Heavilon’s site.
PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN BASKETBALL PICKS … FAMILIAR NAMES: There won’t be any preseason overlooking for Braden Smith this year. The Purdue guard, who helped lead the Boilers to a Big Ten title and the National Championship game in 2024, starts the 2024-25 season as the Big Ten’s preseason pick for conference player of the year. Also of hometown note on that preseason Big Ten first team: Lafayette Jeff’s Brooks Barnhizer, who has carved out quite a college career at Northwestern.
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MICAH BECKWITH AND SMELLS LIKE ‘JEZEBEL SPIRIT:’ In a video interview with Daniel Bernard, host of Florida-based, conservative webcast, Republican lieutenant governor candidate had this to say about top of Indiana’s Democratic ballot in the Nov. 5 election: “If you look at the Republican ticket versus the Democrat ticket, it’s strength and Godly boldness versus what I would say is the Jezebel spirit and this idea of no boldness, right? Or boldness for immorality, right?”
Yeah, “Jezebel spirit.”
Here’s the clip from that interview last week, making the rounds this week as archived by a group called Right Wing Watch, in which Bernard boiled things down to “the spirit of witchcraft.”
Indianapolis Star reporter Kayla Dwyer went a bit deeper here on the pastor/lieutenant governor candidate’s comments: “Lt. Gov. candidate Micah Beckwith compares Indiana Democrats to the 'Jezebel spirit.’”
Among response from the Democrats at the top of the ticket, this from Jennifer McCormick, campaigning for governor against Beckwith’s running mate, Mike Braun:
And this, via Destiny Wells, running for attorney general:
SPEAKING OF WHICH … DEBATES WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY IN GOVERNOR’S RACE: Wednesday brings the first of two debates in the Indiana governor’s race. Republican Mike Braun and Democrat Jennifer McCormick meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a debate hosted by Fox 59 and CBS4. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Libertarian Donald Rainwater joins Braun and McCormick for a debate hosted by WISH-TV. Here’s a primer, via the IndyStar: “How to watch 2024 Indiana governor's race debates this week.”
HOOSIER TROOPS HEAD TO HELENE RECOVERY: Indiana Capital Chronicle’s Casey Smith had details about Indiana sending roughly a dozen Indiana National Guard members to aid search and rescue operations after Hurricane Helene. Here’s more: “Holcomb activates Indiana National Guard to assist with storm relief efforts in North Carolina.”
BOOK TALK: Alex Kor, son of Hoosier legend and Holocaust survivor Eva Kor, will be at Purdue for a talk at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at Winifred Parker Hall, Room 159, about “A Blessing, Not a Burden,” with co-author Graham Honaker. The book’s subtitle tells more: “My Parents’ Remarkable Holocaust Story and My Fight to Keep Their Legacy Alive.” Eva Kor, who founded the Terre Haute-based CANDLES Holocaust Museum dedicated to telling the story of the Holocaust, was among twins put through the human experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele at the concentration camp at Auschwitz. She gained fame later in life for her story of finding peace through forgiveness. Mickey Kor survived slave labor at a satellite of the Buchenwald concentration camp before being liberated by the Allies and moving to the United States and graduating from Purdue. (Here’s a story I reported in 2017 for the J&C, after watching a Boilers basketball game with the late Mickey Kor at a time when friends and family were attributing his love for Purdue sports as the thing keeping him hanging on: “Holocaust survivor’s empty seat at Mackey.”) Alex Kor will have a book signing after the talk, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. at Winifred Parker Hall.
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