Knowles Memorial Chapel


Knowles Memorial Chapel, built between 1931 and 1932, is an historic Mediterranean Revival building located on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, in the United States. On December 8, 1997, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the Knowles Chapel at Rollins College on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.

History

Knowles Memorial Chapel was given to Rollins College by Frances Knowles Warren in memory of her father, Francis Bangs Knowles, one of the founders of both Rollins College and the city of Winter Park. It was designed by noted church and collegiate architect, Ralph Adams Cram, who considered it his favorite of the more than 75 churches and cathedrals he had designed. In the summer of 2007 it underwent a masonry restoration paid for by a trust set up by Frances Knowles Warren.

Organ

The chapel organ was built in 1932 by noted organ builder, Ernest M. Skinner. In the mid 1950s it was renovated by Skinner's firm, Aeolian-Skinner. Between 1999 and 2002 the organ was completely overhauled and renovated by Randall Dyer & Associates. At the same time the Dyer firm also built and installed a "completely new, free-standing antiphonal organ at the rear of the balcony and surrounding the Rose Window." Deeply involved in the work by the Dyer firm was its associate, John J. Tyrrell, former president of Aeolian-Skinner.

Current use

Knowles Memorial Chapel continues to be used as the Rollins College Chapel and its dean is the pastor of the college. The chapel is also the venue for many musical events, especially during the annual Bach Festival of Winter Park.

Gallery