For many campuses, the college chapel is a beating heart within the student body. Amidst the stress of exams, networking, and being away from home, students need a place of refuge outside of their own dorm rooms; and one that connects them to a larger community. If your university chapel shows any of the following signs of wear or if you find evidence of previous decoration, it may be time to prioritize this home-away-from-home and protect one of the most beautiful and meaningful parts of campus.
What To Look For:
- Water damage and stains
- Cracked plaster and stone
- Peeling paint
- Visible grime, dirt, and smoke residue
These four physical signs often signal underlying issues or poor craftsmanship. Too often, cosmetic repairs are made to disguise or postpone addressing more serious problems. Whether it is because of lack of funding, lack of interest, or lack of knowledge, these problems can go untreated and only increase the damage and future costs.
If there is no physical damage, you can still look for clues informing a restoration campaign. When investigating, it’s most helpful to look for:
- Historic photographs showing missing artwork or decoration
- “Ghosting,” meaning the appearance of a historic pattern pushing though modern paint
- Large empty walls in a historic church, since many historic churches had a decorative scheme filling the space
- Understand the building’s history and how long it has been since the last major work or interior work
These clues can piece together missing parts of a building’s history and garner momentum for a restoration campaign, but they can easily be missed, covered, or lost to time so documentation and action is imperative.
Case Study:
At the University of Virginia chapel, the splotchy, white-washed walls were the first clue that there was more to this beautiful space. The original paint color was a vibrant green that perfectly complemented the historic wood finish and naturalistic stained-glass.
The original wood finish was also a warm bright stain that complements the floor, brick ribs and arches, granite colonettes, and wooden pews. Brightening the walls and woodwork created a harmony between the color hues rather than the start contrast between dark wood and white walls. These changes, along with the two restored organ pipe sets, utterly transformed the space into a hopeful, uplifting place of worship befitting the future generations that would visit.
Where To Go From Here:
No matter the state of the building, a facility condition assessment is a great launch point for determining priorities and pricing. Whether the building committee or caretakers want to preserve it in its current condition or restore it to historic conditions, establishing a full scope of work that needs to be completed is helpful for you, your contractors, and your budget. Preserving buildings and taking care of our chapels is a meaningful task as we preserve both what came before us and what exists in our own time for future generations.
