Legacies in Architecture

Mabee Chapel / Auditorium, Bolivar

Designed by Gaskin Hill Norcross for Southwest Baptist University, this project began with intense, extensive research, programming, and planning by the GHN and SBU staffs. The 32,900-square-foot, 1,300-seat performing arts center also serves as the chapel. It is one of the early Missouri structures to feature a continental seating layout. The auditorium wraps around a thrust stage located in front of a full working stage with a fly loft. Support facilities include green room, scene shop, costume shop and storage, dressing rooms and instructional spaces. It was completed in 1980.

Why is this project your legacy? Energy use was a primary consideration of the design, refined by computer modeling of three possible building envelopes, each modeled with four different heating and cooling systems to determine which system with which building exterior was the most cost-effective initially and long-term. All this was accomplished in the late 1970s when the energy crisis was a critical issue and computer technology was just beginning to make its mark in the design field.