Existing comment:
Chapel
This building was originally constructed as the pneumatic power plant for the forge shop in 1901. In 1962 the last gun shop closed down and the Yard began its transition from an industrial facility to an administrative and ceremonial headquarters for the Navy. In 1972 work began on the forge shop with volunteers provided by the Navy's Self-Help Program to convert the power plant into a chapel. In 1973 the Navy Yard Chapel was completed without destroying the building's industrial character. The renovation kept the existing exposed beams and roof deck, returned walls back to their original bare red brick color, used natural finish furnishings and replaced the floor with gray slate. The ninety-foot landscaped brick plaza was also part of the renovation.
President Hoover on his way to inspect the USS Constitution tied up at the Yard in 1931. The building in the background is now the Navy Yard Chapel. |