MONTREAT
COLLEGE
ALETHEIA
Volume XXIX, Number 8
Montreal College
Decembers, 1996
Whatley explained that “the chapel is
only a limited part of the function” that
the Christian Studies Center will
serve.
The campus has already begim to
reap the benefits from the Center,
Whatley pointed out, with the addition
of a much larger paved parking lot
behind the library. Because of city
Why is Montreat Getting a New Chapel?
By Jennifer Mobley
Construction on Montreat’s new
Christian Studies Center is expected
to begin on the first of April this
coming spring, and completion is
planned for the following March.
While many students and faculty have
been referring to the new building as
another chapel, it is in fact much more
than that according to Jac Whatley,
Director of Development.
“The building will house
classrooms and oflBces, mainly
for the Bible and Religion
department, on the ground
floor,” Whatley explained.
Also included in the plans for
this floor is a seminar room
for smaller classes and
meetings, and a kitchenette.
The classrooms will be
equipped with modem media
technology, and as an added
convenience, can be made
into one large room if neces
sary.
The upper floor will
include the Chaplain’s office
and the chapel, which will be “quite
small,” said Whatley. “It will seat
about 213 people.”
In response to many students who
are wondering why Montreat is
building a chapel that small, Whatley
noted that it will be used for “the
Montreat Presbyterian Sunday school
class, music recitals, and similar
gatherings throughout the year and
during the summer.” It will have
pianos and an organ, and the hope is
that it will meet some of the demand
for meeting places on campus.
The artist’s conception above illustrates the
plans for the new Christian Studies Center
ordinances. Montreat was required to
build the lot to accommodate the
addition of the offices and classrooms
in the new Center.
About 500 different people made
generous donations to the building
fund for the Christian Studies Center,
but it was a “single key donor” who
really made the Center possible. This
key donor saw the need in the
Montreat community for a central
building that “spoke visually of the
community’s ties to Christ, and he
gave the money in honor of his
parents,” said Whatley. Approxi
mately one million dollars was needed
to build the Center, and the
fundraising is complete. “We have
what we need to constmct and outfit
the new building,” expressed Whatley.
Whatley called the building
project “a step on the road” to one
day being able to take on a much
larger project, like a new
fitness and recreation center.
At last estimate, a new gym
would cost the campus around
4.5 million dollars, and would
require a very large donor
base. It has been over ten
years since the last bufiding
project on campus, the Belk
Center, and because of that,
Whatley explained, “We have
had to rebuild our donor base.”
He continued, “It is to our
advantage to start with a
smaller project, and then move
on to the larger projects,” such
as a new gym.
Whatley put the magnitude
of such a project in perspective when
he said that “the largest donation ever
given to Montreat was one half million
dollars.” Several equally generous
donations would be needed to build a
new gym.
It is Whatley’s hope that the
building of the Christian Studies
Center will not only benefit the
campus and the community, but will
also facilitate the further growth of the
campus and make future building
projects possible.