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The $13-million facility, yet to be built, will be named for a man who resigned amid financial embarrassment for the college.
By ALICIA CALDWELL, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 27, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Eckerd College's new library will be named after Peter Armacost -- the school's former president who abruptly announced his retirement at the same time trustees learned that much of Eckerd's endowment had been spent without their knowledge.
The $13-million facility will be called the Peter Armacost Library at the request of John and Rosemary Galbraith, who donated more than half the money for it.
The college always honors the wishes of donors, said Carol Graham, the college's executive director of communications and marketing.
"I think the faculty and the staff and the students at Eckerd recognize that the most important thing about the gift is the resource it's going to provide them," Graham said. "That is the significant fact to the community, rather than who the facility is named after. If there were any misapprehensions with some folks, that will pass."
The rest of the $13-million for the library was given by Jack and Ruth Eckerd, Graham said.
Galbraith, who calls himself a good friend of Armacost, said he was pleased to honor Armacost's legacy.
"I think it would be a shame not to have the library named after a man who shaped the school for 23 years," said Galbraith, a former Eckerd trustee and board chairman.
Armacost and Galbraith both said they had been talking about the library donation since 1999. Galbraith, Armacost said, wanted to name the library after Armacost at that time. Armacost said he did not want a building named after him while he was still serving as president.
After his resignation, Armacost said he was pleased to accept the honor and did not see it as a way to repair his reputation.
"I think it's a great honor," Armacost said. "I'm thrilled."
Armacost said that during his tenure, he increased the number of students from 850 to 2,800, added 40 new faculty positions, bringing the total to more than 100, and was the force behind having eight new buildings constructed.
"I don't feel any need for any vindication," he said.
The groundbreaking ceremony, to which all Tampa Bay area alumni have been invited, is set for Dec. 10.
The three-story library will be 58,000 square feet, twice as large as the existing library, which was opened in 1962. It will hold 300,000 books, and will contain substantially increased study and meeting space.
Construction of the new library is expected to take 18 to 24 months.
Armacost, who had been president of Eckerd for 23 years, announced his resignation suddenly in June 2000. The announcement followed a weekend retreat during which college board members learned the results of an independent management review.
It showed that during an 18-month stretch, two-thirds of the college's $34-million endowment had been spent without their approval. Much of the money was spent on capital expenses, such as dorm repair and paying for the college's struggling real estate ventures.
At the time, Armacost said he learned of many of the school's financial problems when board members did.
The college's philanthropic friends quickly stepped up and made pledges to replace the depleted endowment. The money for the new library, announced last February, was called a second vote of confidence for the school.