Chapel rises above the dust

King's Chapel is back in service again after vandals sprayed interior with fire retardant

Students enter through the once-again opened doors of the King's chapel for an evening choral performance. Photo: Harley Rustad

The King's College community has rallied together to restore and reopen their chapel after vandalism forced its doors closed for nearly two weeks.

Around midnight on Oct. 2 or early in the morning on Oct. 3, vandals broke into the University of King's College and used three fire extinguishers inside the chapel, covering the pews, the altar and the books in white dust.

"The life of the whole college was disrupted," says Rev. Gary Thorne, the university's chaplain since 2006.

The chapel was immediately closed, but services endured, continuing in a small tent the university set up in the King's quad and in the campus theatre, the Pit.

"Not one service was cancelled," he says.

Thorne says it was important that the students still have an opportunity to enrich their lives though the chapel's programs.

Even when the college was used as a naval training centre during the Second World War, chapel services were not disrupted, says Thorne.  

The chapel has served the students at King's and Dalhousie, and the broader public since its establishment in 1930, after the university relocated to Halifax in 1922.

Looking forward

In the eyes of many on and off campus, the vandalism brought the King's community closer together.

"I hope it has helped increase solidarity on campus and awareness of chapel programs," says Gavin Keachie, one of the three elected student wardens for the chapel.

After a professional cleaning crew was called in, students assisted the effort by volunteering to oil the wood of the pews.

The most recent estimate places the cost to clean and repair the chapel at around $8,000 - money that will be deducted from the chapel budget. The university spent $299,673 on divinity, music and the chapel in 2009-2010.

The cost of the cleanup will only add to the other funding cuts the chapel has endured this year.

"It definitely has put a strain on a strained budget," says Keachie.

However, the chapel has no intention of cutting any specific programs, such as the semi-annual backcountry retreat in Kejimkujik Park, because of this unexpected burden.

While the chapel will not hold a fundraising campaign to raise money to cover the costs of the vandalism, it will continue to reach out to the public to support its services, Thorne says.

"Don't do fundraising for the vandalism of the chapel," he adds, "Do fundraising for the programs."  

On Oct. 14, the chapel reopened its doors for evensong.

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