President Greenough eagerly joined in the work, and through his efforts
the Legislature appropriated $25,000 for a chapel building, the lower story
of which should be used as a library.
The corner-stone was laid November 6, 1884. As the weather was very cold and disagreeable the exercises accompanying it were held in the old chapel, where addresses were made by the Alumni and gentlemen interested, among them, Hon. C. L. Flint, O. B. Hadwin, Esq. and ex-President Stockbridge. Beneath the corner-stone were laid a copy of the original INDEX, which contains the pictures of the Presidents, a copy of the last Cycle, and several daily papers.
The building will be of a simple Romanesque style of architecture, two stories in height, with a tower ninety-six feet high on the southeast corner. It is being constructed of Pelham granite, from the quarry owned by the college, and trimmed with brown sandstone. There is a gable on each side. The first story will be used for a library and reading-room, and the upper as a chapel. The whole will be finished in ash and hard pine.
Much has been done already toward placing the books, numbering about twenty-seven hundred in an available condition.
Under Prof. Goodell’s watchful eye, they have been re-catalogued
this summer, and owning to the present accessibility three times as many
books have been taken out this last term than during any other single term.