University Point
From Plans for a Simple Chapel to Much More
Decades-long plans to build a $50,000 chapel on campus morphed into the construction of this most recent addition to the campus, a $5.6 million facility dedicated on May 15, 2011 and housing the Wilkes Family Chapel and Wilkes Family Museum, the Erickson Alumni Center, and the John and Lucia Pais Family Fellowship Hall. Over 60 years before, the Concord College Alumni Association at its annual banquet held on May 31, 1950 had announced its own plans for the erection by the Alumni Association of a $50,000 memorial chapel on campus. Plans had already been drawn up by Alex B. Mahood, Bluefield architect, for a 200-seat auditorium to be constructed of native stone and located near the campus entrance. Money for the organ had already been secured along with pledges for building materials and furnishings.
