Note: Following are two e-mail messages. The first is from Dave Flood to Chancellor Lombardi, citing our commitment to Old Chapel as our Class Gift, and the second the reply by Chancellor Lombardi to Dave's message. The reply was most welcome and reassuring - and gives us all confidence in the future of Old Chapel and in our decision to make our 50th Reunion Class Gift a donation toward funding for the maintenance, in perpetuity, of the Old Chapel Tower carillon and clock, and, in addition, toward funding for carillon concerts during the academic year and an establishment of an Old Chapel carillon music library.

Subj: Class of 1953 - 50th Reunion
Date: 03/27/2003 11:12:11 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: dmpflood31
To: lombardi@umass.edu

Dear Mr. Lombardi,

We of the Class of 1953 are looking forward to having you with us at our 50th Reunion Dinner on June 7, 2003.

We also understand that we will see you at breakfast that same day!

Our Class Gift Committee has worked long and hard to come up with a worthy university project for our 50th Reunion donations - Old Chapel.

We will be making donations to the university toward helping to renovate Old Chapel. We have been working with Dick Nathhorst of the Facilities Planning Division of UMass Amherst. Dick has taken our committee members on a tour of Old Chapel and has suggested a number of projects that we will be considering for funding.

Since our committee made its decision, we have heard rumors about Old Chapel that raise concern on our part. The rumors are that Old Chapel is very low in priority as far as the UMass Amherst administration is concerned. Part of the rumor actually has the Old Chapel being razed in favor of an addition to the library!

It is of great concern to our Class of 1953 that this rumor be addressed by the administration. Would you please let us know your reaction to this rumor, and tell us what you have in mind for Old Chapel for the long-term future?

In your remarks at the occasion of the dedication of the Class of 1950's gift of the Minuteman Statue, I note that you said, "Every university looks for ways to remember its past and understand its future. When we have these kinds of symbols, they tremendously add to the quality and culture of campus." One of the landmarks of UMass Amherst that adds to the "quality and culture of campus" and that is forever in the memory of our Class of 1953 is Old Chapel. Many, if not all, of us had classes there in English, Sociology and Music. It was, and in our minds always will be, the center of campus when we attended UMass. Its carillon greeted us in the morning and signalled the end of day for us. Its fieldstone architecture and slender clock tower were ties to the past that kept us mindful of those who had preceded us and who had helped to provide us with a beautiful campus on which to pursue our higher education.

Our class wants very much to preserve Old Chapel so that future students can appreciate UMass's glorious past.

Your sense of history is very much appreciated, and I sincerely hope that you will concur with our quest to preserve and improve Old Chapel.

We have a website to commemorate our 50th reunion. Its address is:

Class of 1953 50th Reunion Website

Please visit it and look at the page entitled: "Class of 1953 50th Reunion Old Chapel Renovation Fund."

We would love to have a greeting from you to put on the website. If you would like to add comments about Old Chapel, that would be much appreciated. I put a photo of you on our "50th Reunion Activities" page (taken from Alumni Connection of January, 2003). If you would prefer another photo that we could use with your greeting, please send it to me via e-mail and I will use it.

Thanks so much for your consideration of our discourse.

We wish you all the best for a long and successful tenure at our UMass Amherst!

Sincerely,

Dave Flood
President, Class of 1953
UMass Amherst

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Subj: Re: Class of 1953 - 50th Reunion
Date: 03/28/2003 6:41:43 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: lombardi@umass.edu (John Lombardi)To: dmpflood31@aol.com

Hi, Dave, thanks for your note.

The commitment and enthusiasm of your class and your alumni colleagues in the surrounding classes is truly inspirational. The Minuteman statue and the other activities stand as powerful symbols of the work that you do.

As for Old Chapel, all of us are enamoured of this great building which is one of the hallmark structures on this campus. If someone told you that we're planning on taking it down, you should feel free to laugh long and loud, for such a notion is on the border of the ridiculous to the absurd. If you get a name of such a rumor monger, please let me know, and I'll be happy to follow up.

The Old Chapel is a major project for private fundraising for the university although in the state's current fiscal circumstances, we doubt we'll be able to get public funding to assist with such a project. This means that we will need to look for friends who share our enthusiasm and have the means to help restore the building. The most recent estimate for a restoration is in the $10 Million range but by the time this is likely to be funded through private effort, the cost will likely rise into the $15 M range. We should look for gifts totalling that amount to ensure that the restoration when it happens is done first rate.

We also have a variety of smaller projects related to the building and the bells, and probably some work will be needed to maintain the integrity of the building shell while we work on the larger fundraising project.

In any event, all of us know that the support of our alumni is of critical significance to the continued success and growth of our university, and we all appreciate the remarkable work you do.

With thanks,

John      

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Click on the following link to see a history of Old Chapel written by Dick Nathhorst, Capital Project Manager, Facilities Planning Division, UMass-Amherst.

A History of Old Chapel

Old Chapel taken from the east bank of the Campus Pond, circa 1890.

Article in local paper concerning Old Chapel

Old Chapel - southwest side, circa 1918.

The Acts & Resolves of the General Court of Massachusetts concerning Old Chapel - 1884.

The southeast side of Old Chapel taken in 1936. Note the addition of the tower chimes. The clock faces are now of iron and vitrolite glass. Also notice the clear glass panel in the middle of the rose stained glass window.

"For all who study here, may the music of these bells weave a pleasant and enduring strand into the colorful fabric of college memories! For the college community of this fair valley, may this chime bring a newfound pleasure in it's morning greeting and in it's 'liquid notes that close the eyes of day'!"
Remarks at the dedication of the Old Chapel chimes - June, 1937 - by Bernard Smith '99, who donated the chimes in honor of his friend and classmate, Dr. Warren E. Hinds. (from "The Alumni Bulletin")

The Old Chapel architect, Stephen C. Earle (1839-1913)

A view of Old Chapel looking down from a window in the W.E.B. DuBois Library.

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