40 years ago: Fears of fire in Hoch leads to banning of Vespers candles

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 5, 1974:

A clarification of an earlier article on the annual “Christmas Vespers” at Kansas University contained the explanation that candlelight had been banned from the annual celebration. Recent concerns about the flammability of the stage curtains and ceiling in Hoch Auditorium had led to the decision by KU administrators. The celebration, begun in 1924, had traditionally started and ended with a procession in which double rows of singers, each holding a lighted candle, marched down the auditorium’s two center aisles, while lighted candelabra flanked both sides of the stage. “The tradition is as old as Hoch’s red curtains, which could easily catch fire” and act as a conductor to ignite the ceiling tiles, according to today’s article announcing the decision by executive vice chancellor Del Shankel. The story also confirmed that the near-total absence of outdoor holiday lighting on campus was intended to conserve energy. Danforth Chapel was to be surrounded by blue lights as usual, but no other outdoor light displays were planned. Also, as had been the case the previous year, the large Christmas tree in the Strong Hall rotunda would not have lights.