Restored for a New Century

At the turn of this century, Graham Chapel at Washington University, St. Louis underwent extensive and award-winning renovations.
Photo courtesy of Joe Angeles/WUSTL

By Christina B. Farnsworth

Gothic style stone defined the aspirations of academia in the early 1900s and Washington University, St. Louis (sometimes called the Princeton of the Midwest), was second to none.

The University's 100-year-old Graham Chapel marks the high water point of Gothic Collegial construction. Built between 1907 and 1909, the chapel was a gift to the university and a memorial to Christine Blair Graham's husband, paper magnate Benjamin Brown Graham.

Benjamin Brown Graham was prominent in St. Louis. Born in Ohio in 1840, Graham moved to St. Louis at 15 years of age and rose through the city's business community. As president of his firm, he made Graham Paper Company into a major distributor for American, Canadian, Mexican, South American and Australian paper product factories. He served as a director of Merchant's National Bank and St. Louis Union Trust Company, president of St. Louis Mercantile Library, and became a charter member of the University Club.

Graham Chapel has hosted lectures and some 100 weddings a year. But even the best built buildings require occasional renewal, and well-loved buildings demand care from the best. So at the turn of this century Chicago architects Vinci/Hamp handed off execution of the chapel's renovation and a 500-square-foot single-level addition to St. Louis based, nationally prominent Leonard Masonry. The company's exquisite results (completed in 1998) won one of eight 2002 Tucker Awards.

Among the many mesmerizing features of the Graham Chapel are its English stained-glass windows. The building's granite, limestone and marble were selected to meet the windows' high standards of those. And all that stone held its own in power and beauty for nearly 100 years.

Architects and masons faced two challenges: first was to building a 500-square-foot, one-level facility amid heavy student pedestrian traffic and frequent events. Second was replicating the Gothic Collegiate style popular a century ago with new stone matching the pitch, size and color of the existing granite and limestone. The goal was to make the structure look like it, too, had been built circa 1907. Of course the passage of time layered the building with other challenges for both Leonard Masonry and Vinci/Hamp. Changes from wiring additions, chipped stones, deferred maintenance and maybe even a little neglect had also left their mark.

As with most stone renovations, matching materials came first. Leonard Masonry found a near-perfect match to the existing three-foot thick granite walls at an Ironton quarry in Southern Missouri. No one is sure, but the experts suspected this quarry was the original source.

A window at Graham Chapel features intricate detailing.
Photo courtesy of WUSTL

Leonard Masonry's skilled masons knew exactly how to meld the two buildings, both installing new granite among the stones of the old building and transplanting old details and material to the new building. They moved an arched doorway detailed with gargoyles from the original building to the new addition. Replicating the original V-grooved limestone installation was also no mean feat: the V-grooves ran different directions, so every step required extensive field verification and time-consuming hand planning. Then, of course, came matching the interior marble flooring.

Renovations from cleaning limestone walls to refinishing an elaborate wood-beamed ceiling freshened the old chapel. Improvements including expanded balcony seating, an elevator for accessibility, new restrooms, modern lighting and sound systems, and mechanical upgrades, assured functional systems meet the expectations of the new century.

And if all that doesn't sound quite demanding enough, think about scheduling construction and renovation around weekly pipe organ tunings, regular services, concerts, lectures and weddings. The university's weekly Assembly Series has brought more than 800 prominent people in politics, academia, religion, the arts, and the sciences to Washington University since 1949.

	Renovations from cleaning limestone walls to refinishing an elaborate wood-beamed ceiling freshened the old Graham Chapel. Photo courtesy of Joe Angeles/WUSTL

Both architects and contractors proved up to the challenge. Founded in 1959, Leonard Masonry is the largest masonry contractor in St. Louis and among the largest in the United States. The company is a four-generation, family-owned business. It has been St. Louis' mason of choice for many landmark structures including the Missouri Temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Anheuser-Busch Hall at the Washington University School of Law.

Many of the craftsmen the firm employs learned from fathers and uncles. Much of the work is handwork with a set and hammer on the job, the way it has always been done.

The architects have some history, too. John Vinci founded his Chicago firm in 1969, partnering in 1995 with Philip Hamp to form Vinci/Hamp Architects. The firm's restoration resume includes Louis Sullivan's Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio in Oak Park, the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield and numerous projects for the Art Institute of Chicago. Hamp has taught historic preservation at the University of Illinois - Chicago.

All in all, this Gothic Collegiate treasure received just the right facelift and expansion for its next 100 years.

Christina B. Farnsworth is an award-winning real estate writer and author who divides her time between Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C.

Resources
Leonard Masonry
St. Louis, Mo.
314-731-5500
www.leonardmasonry.com

Vinci/Hamp Architects Inc.
Chicago, Ill.
312-733-7744
www.vinci-hamp.com

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