By Carley Sullivan, Photography Editor
St. John’s Chapel has been the same safe haven and gathering space for many different Catholics over the years, though its appearance has taken many different forms.
St. John’s Chapel is located in the heart of campus, within Sacred Heart Hall.
Sacred Heart Hall was built in 1922, and the chapel was in a more traditional style. Photographs from the archives show that in the late 1930’s, it was seperated by an altar rail, and everything but the pews were white: the walls, the decor, the altar.
By the 1940’s, the chapel’s altar rail was removed and the walls were built up to encase the statues of saints on either side of the altar. The color scheme was still essentially the same as before, although there were more plants and fewer statues and figures at the altar.
Once the 1980-1990’s hit, the chapel’s design had shifted to what it still looks like today. The chapel is fully carpeted, with pews and chairs in rows throughout. The walls were painted cream with blue accents and more modern light fixtures were hung from the ceiling.
There were only a couple major additions between then and now: a new sound system, a coat of paint, and new pews in the 1990’s.
In 2005, a mural of St. Maria De Mattias was painted, followed by a mural of Father Kapaun in 2009.
Looking forward, Father John Fogliasso said that the “logical next campus improvement project would be enhancing St. John’s Chapel.”
The chapel is now dated, with paint chipping off the walls, cracked pews, and bowed, stained glass windows.
Father Fog noted that the future renovations would improve these areas, as well as enhancing the sanctuary and filling the entire chapel with pews.
This article was apart of our 50th anniversary issue where we used similar formatting to an issue from 1973. To see the full issue, formatting included, click here.
