Year Built: 1961

Purpose: Place of Worship

 

Christ Chapel was built in 1961 by the architectural firm of Setter, Leach & Lindstrom of Minneapolis. It cost Gustavus Adolphus $750,000 to build in 1959 when construction began. In the past chapel was held in the Auditorium. The students expressed their enthusiasm for a new Chapel in the Gustavian Weekly. Shortly after many fraternities and sororities raised money for the new Chapel. The Chapel was opened in 1962 and held its first service on September 10th. The Chapel required over 350 tons of steel. The cross on the top of the Chapel reaches 187 feet above ground. The walls were formed using 88 pre-cast triangular concrete panels, each weighing nine tons, finished with quartz aggregate on the outside and plaster on the inside. Each panel is 50 feet high, and each exterior wall measures 112 feet wide. There is room enough for 1500 people inside the Chapel — 1200 on the main floor and 300 in the balcony. The Chapel has undergone some small renovations including acoustical improvements in 1964.  After the tornado in 1998, the spire of the Chapel was replaced at a cost of $320,000.