Dartmo.

The seeming underuse of Rollins Chapel prompts one to ask whether it is finally time to devote the building to a more productive function; whether Dartmouth, without damaging the building or making a change that cannot be undone, should use Rollins for some purpose that serves the academic mission of the school.

Rollins would make a fantastic library reading room or simply a study space, for example. Students would actually have a reason to experience the building on a regular basis and appreciate its recent restoration.

Churches have been turned into libraries at Haverford College in Pennsylvania (below); at St. Edmund’s Hall in Oxford (St. Peter in the East, see interior photo provided by the college); and at Lincoln College in Oxford (All Saints Church, see interior photo by Martin Beek). And from the photos (more), the Modernist bookstore inserted by Merkx + Girod into a 13th century church in Maastricht is simply astounding.

Dartmouth would continue to provide worship space, especially for student religious groups that do not have independent student centers and denominational chapels somewhere in town. There is little reason, however, for this generic worship space to occupy a prime site at the heart of a secular institution. To use its resources efficiently and help keep its most-used buildings within ten minutes of the Green, Dartmouth could easily justify the removal of its official worship space to a site that is relatively cheap and distant.

Dartmouth might consider building a noble and uplifting timber-framed building, simple and undecorated — perhaps in the form of an octagonal or round barn (Wikipedia), a vast English aisled barn (like Harmondsworth Great Barn, in Wikipedia), or a discount version of Thorncrown Chapel. The building might stand between EKT and Tri-Delt, or it could occupy one of the vacant sites west of the President’s House. It would be the sort of place where alums could hold weddings and the college could hold memorials.

Once the new hall opens, the college could sensitively furnish Rollins as a study space, like the ’02 Room, or as a new home for one of the smaller libraries.

Removing the recent interior lights from the roof trusses would take Rollins closer to its original appearance, and replacing the existing movable chairs with high-quality lighted study tables or carrels would make Rollins into a highly useful building.

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[Update 05.12.2013: Broken link to Merkx-Girod replaced, additional Maastricht photo link added.]

[Update 11.04.2012: Jacobs Consultancy, a firm working with the college on the new master plan, provides

detailed analysis and feasibility testing of the activities and occupants of a facility or complex, coupled with the analysis of existing buildings, their current, plus potential capabilities and capacities. This process identifies shortfalls and excesses in spaces controlled by various occupant groups, and suggests "highest and best use" scenarios with matches and mismatches by current occupants.

It will be interesting to see what they say about Rollins Chapel.]

Rollins Chapel’s ca. 2004 renovation, the one that uncovered the windows, was designed by Theriault/Landmann Associates of Maine.

Architect Orliff Van Heik Chase of Shepley Rutan & Coolidge designed some work on the Delta Tau Delta house at Dartmouth according to William Collin Levere, Leading Greeks (1915). The basis for the work, perhaps an addition, appears to have been the fraternity’s 1874 house at 36 North Main (burned 1936). A 1915 view of the house hints at a “goat room” addition between the house and the barn. Another view appears in Barrett’s Hanover, N.H.. Chase was a 1908 Wesleyan graduate who designed houses for the fraternity at Wesleyan and Tufts as well.

Frances Cha has examined the remarkable Wheelock memorial window in Bartlett Hall in The Dartmouth:

The window depicts John the Baptist and quotes him: “Vox Clamantis In Deserto Parate Viam Domini.” In doing so, the window recalls Wheelock’s invocation of that message in his suggestion that the college motto be “Vox Clamantis in Deserto.” (Meacham photo)

[Update 04.12.2010: Parate inserted.]

Dartmouth has put up several pages about the art and architecture of Rollins Chapel.

College Chaplain Rev. Richard Crocker expects the stained glass windows in Rollins to be repaired beginning during the summer of 2006 according to an interview in the Dartmouth Review.   The Review also prints Kale Bongers’ historically-minded editorial supporting the restoration.

In his interview, Rev. Crocker related with qualifications the story that the Rollins altar was moved back to the east end during the 1960s and that the sun that shone through the apse windows into the eyes of the audience as a result was part of the reason the school covered the windows.   The pulpit or lectern had been moved to the southeast corner of the crossing in 1912 when the transepts were lengthened and effectively made into a new nave (the hillside blocked any more expansion to the east).

As part of a restoration, Facilities Planning will reveal the now-covered stained-glass windows in the apse of Rollins Chapel, The Dartmouth reports. Donors gave each memorial window in the name of a president of the school, the first five (three in the chancel and one in each transept) in 1886 after the building opened according to “Dartmouth College. Description of the Five Memorial Windows in Rollins Chapel,” New York Times (5 March 1886), 8, col. 5.

• The center window in the chancel is a memorial for President Eleazar Wheelock, made by James Ballantine & Son of Edinburgh, and depicts a group of hearers listening to John the Baptist, also including college motto and seal.
• The President Brown memorial was made by F.X. Zettier at the Royal Bavarian Stained Glass Works in Munich and depicts the apostle John.
• The President Tyler memorial was made by Donald McDonald of Boston and depicts the apostle Paul with the usual colors replaced with reds and brown to go with the chapel.
• The President Lord window, also by McDonald, depicts Moses.
• The President Smith window, also by McDonald, depicts St. James.

Other windows have followed, including President Bartlett’s memorial in 1905, a window designed and executed by Tiffany Studios according to The Dartmouth 26 (24 June 1905), 2.

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[Update 11.10.2012: Broken link fixed.]