When Joseph Trees bought the college and  land from
John Cassedy, he called on his friend Dr. James E. Ament to run it.
The
two of them had known each other at Indiana University. Dr.
Ament and his wife Teresa continued most of the policies of the Cassedys. They
erected several additional buildings, although none as interesting as the
clubhouses, for instance. In some ways, the Ament-era buildings contributed to the
jumble of buildings, filling in gaps that allowed individual buildings to be defined
by their separation. They expanded Senior Hall and built a connecting Ballroom between Senior Hall and Main. They also
built a Music Hall adjacent to the Odeon (named Teresa
Catherine Hall).
Soon after he bought out Trees' interest, Ament
bought the remainder of the tobacco plantation from the Keys estate in 1928,
calling the combined property Amentdale Estate. This area was largely used as a
dairy farm to supply the school with milk and cheese.
The Aments did not live in Aloha as had the
Cassedys, but constructed a President's House in a corner of Senior House
Court. Dr. Ament had a reputation as a bridge builder. Constance Root said that
"if a bucket caught rainwater in it overnight, he built a bridge over it."
Ament had the unenviable task of trying to keep the
school running through the Great Depression. He died in 1936, and his wife
tried to run it for a year thereafter, but she was unable to. Finally, she sold the
school and all the property to Roy Tasco Davis, except for a building
next to the Train Station.
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