McQuiston Hall is the site of extensive renovations

Renovations Will Serve Needs Of Erskine Seminary

Screeching saws and pounding hammers may not be heard outside McQuiston Divinity Hall, where Erskine Theological Seminary renovations are in progress, but the work being done inside will benefit seminary students, faculty and staff, according to the Rev. H. Neely Gaston, vice president of the seminary.

One impetus for the renovations is the seminary's four-year contract to train military chaplains. Gaston wrote the winning bid that will bring the first group of chaplains to the Due West campus July 5.

"We'll have people coming in from Korea, from Fort Gordon (Georgia) down the road, from all over the world," Gaston said. "They will come for three weeks in July and return in January for three weeks."

During their weeks in Due West, the students will require housing, and renovations to McQuiston will help meet that need. "All the rooms upstairs are being done," Gaston said. "Plus we are doing a handicapped bathroom and one other room downstairs."

Gaston said new electrical wiring, including four double outlets in each room, is part of the upgrade, as well as data ports, new doors, windows, and drop ceilings. The original hardwood floors are to be refinished, and new beds, desks, and chests of drawers will be moved into the rooms. "They're also putting in a washer and dryer and redoing the kitchen," he said.

The on-campus chaplain training program is significant for the seminary, Gaston believes. "It's a financial boost, it means national recognition, and it will help expand the program we are already involved with at Fort Jackson," he said.

"We'll be training army chaplains from the Fort Sam Houston region—that's just where the administration is based," he said. "My long-term goal would be for Erskine Seminary to serve as a chaplain training center for the whole country."

The students in the program will be working toward a doctor of ministry degree. They will receive their classroom instruction during their periods on campus, Gaston said, and will have an additional year to write their dissertations.

Meanwhile, they will continue to serve in their assigned areas. "These chaplains are mostly working in hospitals," Gaston said. "So they would be working with the wounded soldiers coming in."

He said one chaplain, who was accepted into the program and had planned to come to the campus this summer, was shipped to Iraq and has postponed his studies.

Other seminary renovations completed or in the works include the addition of an elevator in Bowie Divinity Hall and the conversion of Room 4 in Bowie into an admissions and financial aid suite. "The dean's office will be moved into the former financial aid office," Gaston said. "We're planning to add six new faculty offices in the basement area under Bowie Divinity Hall, and eventually we'll add a new classroom there as well."

Gaston said when renovations are finished in Bowie Divinity Hall, the offices in McQuiston will be converted to housing. "We'll take the old chapel area in McQuiston and convert it into a two-bedroom apartment suite," he said, adding that the projects are slated for completion by Sept. 1.

Eventually, Gaston said, the seminary will be able to house 26 students in McQuiston, and will also have room for students in the seminary guest house and in the campus house most recently occupied by college coaches Mark and Maggie Peeler.

Gaston said seminary students have helped raise money for the elevator in Bowie Divinity Hall. A handicapped ramp is also being constructed for McQuiston Hall. "We have had students in the past who could have used additional handicapped access, and now we can offer it," he said.