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Wesley Chapel

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1966–1967, Gens Frederick Larson. East of the Administration Building, facing Camden Ave.
  • (West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

This huge Neo-Georgian chapel, the focal point of the “new” campus, turns its back on the Administration Building to front a large, open lawn flanked by Georgian Revival buildings. A broad, pedimented portico supported by six brick piers fronts the chapel. Behind, a tower with two wooden octagonal stages rises above a heavy brick base to terminate in a tall spire. Detailing, especially on the tower, seems almost postmodern in its heaviness and desultory arrangement, but the building's large scale virtually demands such an approach to be effective.

Inside, the chapel is basically an auditorium trying to be Georgian. A screen displaying the organ pipes centers the chancel wall, while broad balconies along side and rear walls supplement first-floor seating.

Writing Credits

Author: 
S. Allen Chambers Jr.

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