Chase Hall | ||||||||||||||||
| Click on image titles for larger views. |
Narrative: Chase Hall was built at approximately the same time as Weckesser Hall and was another second-generation home, built from 1917-1918 on the site of two smaller homes which had been demolished. It was the residence of Frederick M. Chase, president of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company. Following his death, the house passed into the hands of the Stark family, related to the Chases through marriage, and was given to Bucknell University Junior College in 1937 by Admiral Harold Stark, Chief of Naval Operations in World War II. He donated the house in memorial to his sister, Mrs. Frederick Chase, and her husband. As the first building acquired by Wilkes University, Chase Hall has served various purposes over the past six decades. It was initially home to the dining hall, and the language and education departments. The original garage on the property was converted to a small, 90-seat theater. Known as the Chase Theater, it was the venue for numerous one-act plays until 1965, when the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts made it obsolete. The building is currently used to house the admissions office. Architecturally, the building is representative of the Tudor revival style of the early twentieth century, and stands in sharp contrast to the massive structure of Weckesser Hall, which was constructed at the same time. References: Andrews, Ronald L. "An Inventory of Historical Landmarks on the Campus of Wilkes College, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania." Typescript. July 1975. Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA. Andrews, Ronald L. Historic Sites Survey of Wilkes-Barre: Final Report. Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, 1979. Cox, Harold E. The Wilkes University Historical Atlas. Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wilkes University Press, 1997. | |||||||||||||||
© 2006
Council of Independent Colleges
Washington, DC
All rights reserved
Last update: November 2006