UMass' Old Chapel remains empty after 11 years

The Daily Collegian - March 30, 2007
By Melissa Toulouse, Collegian Correspondent
 
 
On a campus where the vast majority of the buildings are made of various shades of mundane gray concrete and desert-dusty brown brick and whose shapes seem to have been inspired by quadrilaterals, any beauty is a welcoming sight. Built from local Pelham granite and accented with beautifully hued brown stone quoins from Longmeadow, the Old Chapel is a visual oasis in a barren desert of concrete squares.

The Old Chapel is one of the best-known structures on the University of Massachusetts campus. Countless students pass by it each day as they pass through the center of campus. As one of the more visually pleasing sights on campus, the Old Chapel has come to be equated with UMass; it's image is splashed all over the UMass Web site and brochures. This hallmark of the University, however has not been open to the public for 11 years. Why has such a gem of the University been left unused for so long?

"It should be a jewel box," UMass Capital Project manager Richard Nathhorst said. "It should be the Faneuil Hall of the campus."

Faneuil Hall has played an integral role for the residents of Boston. Serving as a marketplace and meeting hall since 1742, it is still used today. Nathhorst wants the Old Chapel to be as much a part of the University as Faneuil Hall is a part of Boston.

Nathhorst was here when the building was first closed in 1996 because of structural instability, and it has not been open to the public since. The steeple has since been repaired and restored and the bells can still be heard chiming throughout the campus, but the doors remain closed.

The original bell, Old Aggie, that chimed for the first time in 1892, found itself replaced by new Carillon Bells - 42 bells to be exact.

However, Nathhorst added that that steeple was not the only thing that needs to be repaired.

"Substantial restructuring needs to be done," Nathhorst said.

The cost for completely renovating the building was set by Nathhorst at roughly $15 million. However, the administration has yet to authorize fund raising, Nathhorst says. The money raised would be used for the historic preservation and restoration of the Old Chapel as part of an Alumni Capital Campaign, according to Nathhorst.

Even if the $15 million was acquired, what would the Old Chapel be used for? It would certainly not return to its function as a chapel. Why? Because it never was a chapel.

"Calling it the Old Chapel is a misnomer," Nathhorst notes, "It was never used as a religious center."

The Old Chapel, built between 1884 and 1886, was originally designed to function as a library, an assembly space, and a museum for the natural history collection. It even was used as a practice space for the UMass band.

The deceptive church-like appearance of the building can be traced back to the architectural style of its creator, Steven Earle. Earle was a Worcester architect famous for designing town halls and libraries in a Richardsonian Romanesque style, which explains the gothic-looking church structure.

The Old Chapel has had many uses and seen many things. According to the UMass Web site, John F. Kennedy spoke there during his campaign for the US Senate.

"Once a central part of campus life, the Old Chapel has fallen into disuse and now functions only as the icon of the campus," Nathhorst said. "The Alumni would like to see it preserved and ethically restored returning it to its former glory and central place in campus life perhaps as a part of the library system."