News Staff
Last month the Voice ran a story that covered ongoing changes to buildings across campus that included McGaw Chapel and Douglass Hall. President Anne McCall stated in this article the need for either a “significant repair” to the chapel to continue operating or the complete demolition of the building. The article also cited a prior vote by the Strategic Planning and Priorities Advisory Committee to recommend that the building be torn down last year.
McCall explained that before any action is taken a “very careful consideration of the building, its value, its function and the problems it has,” must be observed.
Douglass Hall was the other building of concern for McCall, as the president gave direct order to residential staff to begin moving out students for the building to be emptied by mid-October. The building was successfully vacated as of Saturday Oct. 14. No further comments have been made to the student body about its renovation status or the renovations to be done to the building.
Since the publication of the Voice’s Sep. 15 article, no public statement has been issued about the state of McGaw Chapel; however, the chapel has been deemed both unusable, and then, more recently, usable. Director of Facilities Budget and Project Administration Beau Mastrine confirmed that McGaw Chapel is now open and is planned to be used for some events. Campus Events Manager Darlene Hauenstein elaborated on this statement by confirming that the culture show will be taking place in McGaw, and that the College will begin “having events [in McGaw] going forward this year.”
No further public update has been issued about either building.
