Published: 10/01/2019
The capping of an abandoned gas well below the Mary Seat of Wisdom Chapel will lead to a significant renovation to the structure.
The capping of an abandoned gas well below the Mary Seat of Wisdom Chapel at Gannon University will lead to a significant renovation to the structure.
It will also lead to the demolition of two adjacent structures, the University’s Student Services building and the Pontifical Center. Both of those buildings had been identified in the school’s 2009 master plan as needing to be taken down because they were well past their useful lives.
Capping the well is a challenge because it will need to be done from inside the church, which is located at 520 Peach St. Even if the Student Services and Pontifical Center buildings were to be not demolished, large portions of these adjacent buildings would have needed to be taken down so a hole could be cut in the north wall of the chapel to permit heavy construction equipment to get inside.
Once the path for the equipment is cleared, the work on the well could take a couple days to a couple weeks. It has not yet been determined how long the other enhancements of the chapel will take.
Preliminary work is already being done on the other two buildings. A crew is removing stone pavers from AJ’s Way, the walkway that links the campus and flows just west of all three structures. Time is critical, given that crews want to have the chapel weathertight before winter sets in for an expedient finish of the inside.
A select work group has been formed to determine what specific improvements to the chapel will look like and how long they might take.
A targeted capital campaign is also being launched to help fund the renovations. To donate, call Almitra Clerkin, associate vice president for University Advancement, at (814) 871-7786.
The chapel and its two adjacent buildings have been closed for precautionary reasons since June, when the natural gas leak was detected. The University’s finance, budget and human resources offices were relocated to other areas of campus. In addition, the Office of Mission and Ministry has been coordinating with campus partners to determine locations for services in connection with specific events.
It took a bit of time to determine the leak was coming from a previously unknown gas well that is below the Mary Seat of Wisdom Chapel. Since then, university personnel have been exploring a series of options involving all of the buildings. The Board of Trustees approved this course of action in late July.
The beginnings of a Christian church on this site go back to the year 1860, when the congregation of the First Presbyterian church dedicated a brick edifice with a towering steeple. Tragically, that original building was partially destroyed by fire in 1920 and not fully restored until 1940. A second fire in 1944 completely destroyed the building.
The present church was built in 1950. Its congregation merged with the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in January of 1981 and is now the First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant on West Sixth Street. Gannon University purchased the property that year with a view to continuing the church as the University Chapel. The chapel was dedicated on Oct. 8, 1989.