Old Chapel (Amherst, Massachusetts)
Old Chapel
|
|
View of Old Chapel, with the W.E.B. Du Bois Library to the right
|
|
Location of Old Chapel within Massachusetts
|
|
Location | Amherst, Massachusetts |
---|---|
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Built | 1884-1887 |
Architect | Stephen C. Earle, Worcester |
Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
NRHP Reference # | 91001100 |
Added to NRHP | May 11, 2015 |
Old Chapel, formerly known as the Old Chapel Library is a former library on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst that is on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
Old Chapel was originally constructed in Richardson Romanesque-style between 1884 and 1887 at a cost of $25 thousand (equivalent to $658 thousand in today's dollars),[1] to serve as a library, museum, and assembly hall.[2] The building was designed by Worcester architect Stephen C. Earle, and is a roughly square stone structure with a tower at its southeast corner. It is made primarily of granite, with sandstone trim and a slate roof. The tower features an open belfry with rounded arches, above which are gabled peaks with clock faces, and a diagonally set four-sided steeple at the top.[3]
According to the school, John F. Kennedy supposedly spoke at the Chapel during his 1952 U.S. Senate campaign,[4] although this has never been confirmed.
The chapel's original bell, "Old Aggie," was added in 1892, but has since been replaced by 44 carillon bells. Although the tower underwent a $1.65 million renovation in 1999, Old Chapel has been uninhabited since 1996, when the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band moved out due to unsafe conditions within the structure. Since then, a movement amongst alumni was created to further renovate the interior of the building so that the structure could be used again.[2]
Restoration of Old Chapel began in 2015 after a 2013 campaign by Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy to restore and repurpose the interior of the structure.[5] This included a nomination by Preserve UMass to place the structure on the National Register of Historic Places, which occurred on May 11, 2015.[6]
See also
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- ↑ 1634 to 1699: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 1700-1799: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 1800–present: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- University of Massachusetts Amherst buildings
- University and college chapels in the United States
- Romanesque Revival churches in Massachusetts
- Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts
- Churches completed in 1884
- 19th-century churches
- National Register of Historic Places in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
- Libraries in Hampshire County, Massachusetts