After undergoing interior renovations to refinish historic surfaces as well as improve lighting and sound, work at the University Chapel is nearly complete. The Chapel, once a popular event space for students and alumni, has been closed from hosting events since the start of this year but will reopen in January.
The Chapel is one of many historic buildings on Grounds. First opening in 1890, the 133 year-old building hosts weddings, concerts and other student events. Despite its storied past, the building has undergone major renovations only once before, in the 1950s.
Chapel Project Manager James Zehmer said renovations are taking longer than initially expected to “make sure we’re doing it right.” In order to protect the integrity of the current renovations, Zehmer said the renovation team first remedied water infiltration by completing a project to install trench drains and waterproofing.
“If we had done [the changes] in reverse, all the refinishing efforts that we’re doing now may not have succeeded,” Zehmer said. “Every 75 years or so the Chapel gets a little love.”
Many of the renovations are focused on updating the interior space to make it more suitable for events. Following a fire in the basement in 1910, the University undertook restoration efforts for the Chapel and made the cosmetic decision to darken many of the interior surfaces.
“With historic preservation projects, we always like to try and preserve a record of the finish history over time,” Zehmer said.
In a closet off of the sanctuary, the team has done just that. Historic paint colors, pieces of the wall and more are tucked away as a reminder of where the building has been.
Part of the renovation process included restoring the original green color to the walls, which Zehmer said ties well with the Chapel’s stained glass windows. Blue carpets will be installed to achieve a similar effect.
Zehmer said that a main goal of the renovations is to incentivize hosting events at the Chapel rather than other spaces in Charlottesville, and that competition with other event spaces encouraged improvements to lighting and sound systems.
“Vineyards are a popular space for weddings, and so we think that by making these improvements in the Chapel, it will make it once again an attractive location.”
The team has installed flood lights above the chancel and LED light strips on the horizontal beams of the ceiling. Pendant light fixtures will be hung soon.
Zehmer says that once reopened, the Chapel will be available nearly all day long for students to use for religious or extracurricular purposes. The team has worked with the University Department of Music to reorganize the space so it’s suitable for concerts and rehearsals. This includes moving shorter pews to the front to create a center space in front of the chancel and working with the music department and Chapel administrators to bring in a piano.
The Chapel is not without musical capabilities, however. Zehmer said that while students are accustomed to hearing the bell ring from the Chapel at the top of the hour, they may not know that the sound is actually a recording. The bell itself has not been rung since 1957.
“That’s what’s called a carillon,” Zehmer said. “You’re just hearing a digital recording of a bell.”
But when renovation efforts started, Zehmer’s team saw this as a rare opportunity to restore the functionality of the bell.
“We reached out to the company that originally cast the bell, and they found in their records the date we ordered the bell and the name of the person who ordered it,” Zehmer said.
The company is now providing the Chapel with a “remote strike,” or a hammer that can be remotely controlled to ring the bell on command. Although the carillon will remain the primary way to ring the bell, the team is excited to have the functionality restored.
Project collaborators include the University’s in-house design group, which worked on the architecture. Available Light was the company consulted for lighting upgrades. Carpentry, repairs, plaster and electrical were performed by the University’s Construction and Renovation Services Department. Restoration of the woodwork and brickwork was performed by John Canning & Co., which specializes in historic preservation.
Any Contracted Independent Organization or student can make a Chapel reservation through Newcomb Hall starting in January.
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