To the editor:

It has come to my attention that four tall city-owned buildings do not have lightning rods: City Hall, the Community Health Facility, Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the Lawrence Arts Center. Also, the plans for the new library do not include lightning rods.

After a lightning strike resulted in the destruction of Hoch Auditorium in the early 1990s, Kansas taxpayers had to pay millions of dollars to rebuild the building because KU was self-insured. Now virtually all buildings on Mount Oread have lightning rods. Further, Douglas County has lightning rods on the courthouse and county jail and is exploring putting lightning rods on its new public works building now in the design phase.

It is a fact that lightning does not always strike the highest object, but it is more likely to do so. Therefore, it would seem prudent to install lightning rods on the tallest city-owned buildings.