This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Last update was that restoration began in 2015. Present status unknown.(October 2021) |
Old Chapel | |
Location | Amherst, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°23′20.24″N 72°31′40.70″W / 42.3889556°N 72.5279722°W |
Built | 1884-1887 |
Architect | Stephen C. Earle, Worcester |
Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
NRHP reference No. | 15000211 |
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.
Old Chapel was originally constructed in Richardson Romanesque-style between 1884 and 1887 at a cost of $25,000 (equivalent to $847,778 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The chapel's original bell, "Old Aggie," was added in 1892, but has since been replaced by 44 carillon bells.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]