Finney Chapel to begin renovations this summer

College budgets $2.3 million for renovations; new organ will be installed

The beginning of this summer will mark a period of hectic renovations in Finney Chapel which will finish next summer.

"I think it's going to be pretty exciting," said Michael Lynn, associate dean of the Conservatory for technology and facilities. He explained that this project, which centers around the construction and installation of a new organ, actually began close to ten years ago.

The work that has already been completed involves the design of the new organ, as well as fund-raising. The rest of the work will involve the removal of the existing organ and renovations to accommodate the new organ. Originally, the plan was to install the organ in three summers, but it has been restructured for two. "This keeps the facility available for more use," Lynn said.

This summer, the existing organ will be taken out and sold to a church in Virginia. However, all the material from its façade will be kept at Oberlin and incorporated into the new organ.

The new organ will be brought forward on stage and placed below the arch which is now in front of the current organ. As a result, the stage will need to be redesigned, which Lynn sees as a great benefit. Although the first three rows of seating will be lost, he says the stage can be redesigned to be more like a real concert hall, adding that the new one will be similar to the stage of the Boston Symphony hall.

Other changes in Finney done concurrently with the installation include rearranging some of the sound and light systems and adjusting the acoustical elements of the chapel.

According to Lynn, one of the current problems is that percussive elements and piano notes bounce off the back wall, causing them to be heard twice by people seated in the middle of the audience. As part of the renovations, diffusers will be installed along the back wall to absorb sound. These diffusers will be wooden and painted like the rest of the chapel to blend in as part of the overall design.

New side walls will be added along the side of the stage. "They will be quite nice, like the paneling on the organ," said Lynn, "We should end up with a design truer to the original Cass Gilbert architecture."

Because of modifications in the '40s, '50s, and '60s, the stage had lost some of its original elements. One example of the new design will be windows above the stage that are blocked by the current organ, but will be opened up by the installation of the new one.

The stage will also become more easily wheel-chair accessible. A wheel-chair lift will be added as well as better wheel-chair seating. There will also be four doors through which performers can access the stage. Currently, there is only one door on stage.

The new stage should prove to be a lot less cluttered. Currently, the organ console and the two concert grand pianos on stage cannot be removed for a performance. In the new design, the console will be built into the new organ and there will be room beneath it to put two concert grand pianos.

Lynn said that a couple things are being done to help increase spoken word events at the chapel. There will be speakers added along the back of Finney. Additionally, the acoustic changes should help every event held there. "We are trying to make sure that any changes are going to be beneficial to spoken word and amplified music. The acoustic changes help just about anything," he said.

Of course, the redesign will be a bit of a hassle for the next year. "We hope that the construction work is done in the summer," Lynn said. "And next summer the organ will be finished."

Then there will be another six months to tune and calibrate the new organ." Unfortunately, this means that next year there will be no organ pumps or concerts, at least not in Finney Chapel. "Warner will most likely be made available," he assured. "We just haven't quite figured out the scheduling yet."

Pretty much everything else that occurs at Finney Chapel will be fine next year. There will be a big hole where the old organ was (although it will be blocked by a wall), and small things may need to be done during Winter Term or Spring Break.

"We are trying as much as possible to make sure the room is completely available and useable," Lynn said.

According to Sal Filardi, who is employed in the physical plant, the project has a budget of $2.3 million. According to Kay Thompson, vice president for development and alumni affairs, the principal amount of this funding came from a gift to Oberlin from a woman named Kay Africa.

Thompson said, "A very generous donor gave us a very generous gift to purchase a symphonic organ for Finney Chapel, and as a result of some sound investment policies over the years by the College, we now have core funding for this project. It's pretty exciting, and it's something that Oberlin has needed for a long time."