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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/8/05 CONTACT: Christy Grimes
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GREENVILLE, ILL. – Greenville College, which agreed in the spring of 2002 to purchase the Free Methodist Church, took possession of the church Monday, February 7th. In order to better serve our campus community and the local community, the college will renovate a large portion of the building. The initial renovation process will take 6 months to complete, during which time the college will continue to offer chapel and music programs in the sanctuary. The rest of the building will be closed until completion of construction. An open house, planned for the fall of 2005, will showcase the renovations to the community.
In 2002, the college received a $2 million gift to be used towards the purchase of the church. This, the largest single gift to date, was received from the estate of a deceased anonymous donor who lived in central Illinois but had no previous connection to the college. She lived a very frugal life, in a modest rural home. Yet she saved all she could and invested in the stock market over the course of her entire lifetime.
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The college plans to convert the 38,000 sq. ft. building into a new home for the Music Department. The facility will include classrooms, over 20 practice rooms, prayer chapel, choral library, lab for music listening, studios, prayer garden, and ensemble practice space. The sanctuary, which will eventually be transformed into a recital hall, will be ideal for performances by the Greenville College Choir, additional students groups, senior recitals and visiting guest artists.
As funding becomes available, the college's long range Master Plan calls for the construction of a beautiful glass atrium, which will serve as an attractive meeting place for elegant dinners, receptions and other special events. The lower-level of the atrium will contain a controlled acoustical environment where lab bands from the Contemporary Christian Music program can practice and perform, without disturbing local residents. This building will also house the Blackroom, a concert space currently housed in the Student Union. The atrium will serve as a connector building between the current facility and a proposed 1300-1500 seat chapel/auditorium, which will be located on the west side of the atrium.
Fundraising efforts are underway to raise support for the recital hall renovations and the atrium facility. Naming opportunities, outlined on the GC website at www.greenville.edu/campaign/naming, exist for both projects.
Since its founding in 1892, music has remained an integral part of the Greenville College curriculum. Students can major in music, music education, pedagogy and literature, church music and contemporary Christian music. In fact, nearly 20 percent of students have chosen to pursue a music degree. In recent years, our contemporary Christian music program has received national acclaim. Alumni include Grammy-award winners Jars of Clay and recording artists Sarah Jahn, Jonathan Noel, and the band, recently in CCM Magazine, BDA.
Greenville College is a four-year accredited Christian liberal arts school with more than 1400 traditional undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree completion students. Founded in 1892 and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, the college is located in Greenville, Illinois, 45 miles east of St. Louis .
Last updated: March
18, 2002