Donors spruce up Danforth Chapel

Friday, September 21, 2007

Linda Stewart sat in Danforth Chapel more than three years ago at her grandson’s wedding.

Photo by Jon Goering

Renovations on Danforth Chapel cost about $900,000. Renovations to the chapel include a new floor, a heating and cooling system, and the addition of a bridal room.

“It’s such a wonderful place, but such an awkward place, I thought,” Stewart said. She said attending the wedding convinced her that the chapel needed to be updated.

“There was no place for the wedding party to go,” Stewart said.

She said that the chapel had no place for the bride to dress, no hallway for the bride to stand in before walking down the aisle and the organ took up too much room in the chapel.

“I sat there and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to update this?’” Stewart said.

Stewart and her husband, John Stewart III, a University alumnus, were among the donors who contributed to updating the chapel. The renovated chapel will be re-dedicated tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in a donor recognition ceremony. The chapel was originally dedicated in 1946 and named for William Danforth. The ceremony is invitation-only, but an open house for the public will follow at 3:30 p.m.

Lisa Scheller, senior editor for the University Endowment Association, said that the construction began in March and cost about $900,000. The construction ended this month and the first wedding since the renovations was held at the chapel last weekend.

Scheller said the construction was funded entirely through private donations.

Stewart said she and her family were involved in deciding what to update. Big renovations include the addition of a bridal room, new flooring, a heating and cooling system and new landscaping. Stewart said her family would continue to be involved in maintaining the landscaping.

Rueben Perez, director of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, said that no weddings were displaced because of the renovations because the SILC, which schedules events for the chapel, planned ahead for the construction. Reservations for the chapel, which has a capacity of 90 people, cost $50 for students currently enrolled at the University and $150 for all others which has a capacity of 90 people.

Perez said that in addition to weddings, the chapel is also often used for club meetings and greek initiation ceremonies.

Anyone interested in reserving the chapel should contact the Student Involvement and Leadership Center at (785) 864-4861.

— Edited by Jeff Briscoe

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