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One of Hope College's oldest and most distinctive buildings is being
brought into the modern era while at the same time being returned to
its original glory in an "adaptive restoration" that is beginning
this spring.
Site preparation for the work at historic Graves Hall, which contains
classrooms, meeting rooms and offices, has already started,
including the temporary removal of the signature "Hope College" arch
from in front of the building to provide access for construction equipment.
Additional initial work will continue in the coming weeks with major
construction beginning in the latter part of March or early April. The
project, which will total $5.7 million, is scheduled for completion by
the beginning of the spring 2010 semester.
Dedicated in 1894, Graves is Hope's third-oldest building and was constructed
as the college's chapel and library in addition to originally housing
four classrooms on the second floor. Built of locally quarried Waverly
Stone, and featuring a round tower capped by a conical roof, Graves faces
College Avenue at the end of a walkway fronted by the Hope arch, its
immediate neighbors including other campus landmarks such as Voorhees
Hall, Dimnent Memorial Chapel and the large metal Hope anchor.
History
Graves Hall was the first substantial building added to the Hope College
campus since the construction of Van Vleck Hall in 1856.
Graves Hall and Winants Chapel were named in honor of Nathan Graves
and Gerrit Winants respectively. The Graves and Winants families had
each contributed $10,000 toward the approximately $40,000 that it is
estimated that the building cost to construct. The families' ties to
Hope came through the Reformed Church in America, the college's parent
denomination, whose eastern members provided critical support to Hope
in its early years. Nathan Graves also donated books from his private
library to the project.
The cornerstone for Graves was set in place on
Oct. 12, 1892, at 2 p.m. It was formally unveiled by Hope President
Charles Scott and his successor,
President Gerrit Kollen. The building was dedicated on June 26, 1894.
Graves was built to house the college's chapel, named Winants Chapel,
and library because Hope had outgrown the two locations previously serving
that purpose, and served in those roles until it, too, was outgrown.
Winants remained the college's chapel until Dimnent Memorial Chapel was
constructed in 1929, and Graves served as the college's library until
Van Zoeren Library (also since replaced) was completed in 1961.
With the Library’s move to the new VanZoeren Library in 1962,
Graves Hall experienced another major transformation. The academic departments
of Sociology and Social Work and Modern and Classical Languages were
added, as were several student offices.
The former Winants Chapel became
part of the library in Graves after Dimnent Chapel was completed, and
after the library moved out Graves
was renovated in 1962 to provide more classroom space. Also during
the 1962 renovation, the former chapel became a general-use auditorium,
which was renovated in 1980 and became a center for lectures
and student films.
Graves has housed a variety of Hope programs and departments since
the 1962 renovation, and most recently was the headquarters of the department
of modern and classical languages for many years until that program moved
into the new Martha Miller Center for Global Communication in August
2005. Graves is also the home of the Children's After School Achievement
(CASA) and Upward Bound programs, which have relocated for the construction
but will return when the project is finished. The two buildings at Hope
older than Graves are Van Vleck Hall, which was built in 1858, and
the President's Home, constructed from 1886 to
1892. Both buildings are within sight of Graves and, like Graves, border
the college's central Pine Grove.
The local stone of which Graves is made was quarried about a
mile away from campus along the Black River near the corner of
Waverly Avenue and Chicago Drive. The Tower Clock building on River
Avenue and Eighth Street in downtown Holland, built in 1892, is
another Holland building made of the stone.
Learn
more about the history of Graves Hall in the Spring 2007 A
Step Forward for Hope College: Building Graves Hall and Winants
Chapel
Project Overview
The project has been planned to restore the character of the building
as it existed before a major interior renovation in the 1960s and 1980s
while also meeting contemporary standards for access, safety and use.
The project
is an 'adaptive restoration' - trying to get as true a restoration of
the interior as possible but also making
it as well-suited as possible for current needs.
The interior work will undo many of the 1962 and 1980 changes, and
has been informed by original blueprints from the college's collection
in the Joint Archives of Holland.
When the auditorium was renovated in
1980, the deteriorating stained glass from the building's chapel days
was removed and the seating
was angled toward the southwest instead of the south. The work beginning
this spring will include restoring stained glass to the auditorium's
windows based on surviving samples and reorienting the seating to
the original southern facing of the chapel era. The seating will drop
to
163 from 190, but will include additional space for wheelchairs.
In
the 1962 renovation, some of the larger spaces were divided to create
additional classrooms and office space on both floors,
including the addition of a knee-walled second floor within the high-ceilinged
northern end where the library stacks had been.
The smaller classrooms
and meeting rooms that were carved out of the central part of the main
floor in 1962 are also being reconfigured.
The former "Presidents' Room" immediately inside the
main western entrance, which prior to 1962 had been a study alcove
and since
was a conference room which housed portraits of A.C. Van Raalte
and past Hope presidents, will become a gathering and pre-function
area
for the main auditorium.
Another large classroom will be created
on the northwest side of the lobby.
The main floor will also
include enlarged
and improved restrooms as well as a small kitchen for events
in the building.
The 1960s-era interior walls and the added second floor
that divided the northern end are being removed and replaced by a large,
single-storied
room that will occupy most of the space, save for a secondary
stairwell being installed along the eastern interior to meet fire code.
The new
large room will also become the new home to the presidential
and Van Raalte portraits.
The restoration will also return the original
central second story back to a four-classroom configuration, with the
addition of access
to the northeastern staircase.
The CASA and Upward Bound programs
will both continue to reside in the building's lower level, although
they will each gain space from
portions of the level formerly used as offices for campus
departments. The lower level will also continue to house the small
Schoon Meditation
Chapel created in the 1960s and named for the Rev. Henry
Schoon, a former Hope professor.
In a significant change from the original,
the modernization is prompting construction of a two-story addition
on the building's eastern side,
which faces the central campus. The addition is needed
to allow the college to include an elevator which will provide access
to the top and basement levels for those with mobility impairments.Particular
care was taken to plan an addition that will blend as well as possible
with the original
structure, with considerations including not only its design but also
its exterior
covering. Sufficient quantities of the local stone
used on the rest of the building are not available for the entire addition
(although
some will be used on portions of it), but with the
help of a historic-renovation architect Hope has located similar stone
in Ohio.
The college will remove the open metal exterior stairway on
the building's
northern end. Although familiar to recent generations,
the stair, which provided wheelchair access to the building's main
floor, wasn't original
to the building.
Project
Cost and Funding
The project, which will total $5.7 million, is scheduled for
completion by the beginning of the spring 2010 semester. A
generous challenge gift from Edward ’64 and Diana Hellenga ’64
Marsilje has been committed to the restoration project. This
gift must be matched by the collaborative efforts of other
alumni and friends of
Hope. The college is seeking gifts and pledges from individuals
and organizations to fund the project.
For More
Information
Please contact
Jim Van Heest '80 (cvanheest@hope.edu)
in the College Advancement Office, 616-395-7778, or any other member
of the College Advancement Team at 616-395-7775.
Scott Wolterink '88, Vice President
Mark DeWitt '87, Corporate/Foundation
Relations
Eric Foster '95, Regional Advancement Director
Kate Frillmann, Regional Advancement Director
Brett Holleman '90, Regional Advancement Director
Bob Johnson '80,
Planned Gift Officer
Harvey Koedyker '82, Regional
Advancement Director
Lance Pellow '99 Regional Advancement Director
Steve Oursler '97, Planned Gift Officer
John Ruiter '91, Director of Planned Giving
Annie Valkema, Regional Advancement Director
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