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A SALUTARY INFLUENCE into a large tank in the tower of the Recitation Hall, whence it is distributed to the various buildings on the campus."90 To recapitulate, between June 1887 and December 1890 the building committee had supervised the planning and construction of three new buildings (New Recitation Building, Brua Chapel, and the heating plant) and the extensive renovation of three others (Pennsylvania Hall, McCreary Gymnasium, and Linnaean Hall). Compared to all of the previous efforts of the College to provide facilities for carrying out its educational program, this was by far the most imposing. The costs incurred were even more imposing. According tothe report which the building committee submitted to the board of trustees at the conclusion of its work, the total attributed to each of the buildings was as follows: New Recitation Building, $92,850.11; Brua Memorial Chapel, $19,025.34; Pennsylvania Hall, $17,631.07; heating plant, $20,558.19; chemistry building, $9,761.25; and Linnaean Hall, $10,676.75. The sum total of these six items was $170,502.75. When one recalls the reluctance of the board of trustees to embark upon this building and renovation program in the first place, it is remarkable that, once having committed themselves, they were so determined to carry it through to completion. Time and again, noted the College Monthly for December 1889, "our Trustees have shown their purpose to take no backward step nor even halt in carrying out the liberal things they devised about a year ago." The editor attributed this to the fact that "there are men in the Board who will not rest till we have what every first-class college ought to have." He was pleased that "they are men, too, who not only help to pass resolutions but help also most liberally in furnishing the wherewithal to carry them out." What he did not note was that a number of these trustees were newcomers to the board. The College could accurately say that it was able to dedicate the New Recitation Building free of debt. The amounts which President McKnight collected for that purpose and which were subscribed on the day of its dedication did cover its costs. In addition, the contribution of John P. Brua paid for about 80 percent of the cost of the chapel. In order to meet the remaining financial obligations, the board of trustees borrowed $25,000 from local banks and $30,000 (on June 27, 1889) from the Spring Garden Insurance Company of Philadelphia.91 90The College installed its own water system because no satisfactory arrangements could be made at this time with the Gettysburg Water Company, which feared that the College might use more water than it could supply. 91This latter obligation, payable in five years, was secured by a mortgage on the real estate of the College. The interest rate was 4V2 percent. Adams County Mortgage Book J, pp. 254-258. 26