Architectural drawing of new DTS Chapel

DTS Begins $13.5 million New Chapel & Student Life Building Project

In 2013, Chafer Chapel was closed in order to allow for the renovation of Davidson and Stearns Halls as well as the construction of Horner Hall. Today, I am excited to announce that a new Chapel & Student Life Building will soon be built on the Dallas campus allowing us to continue growing as a seminary, while providing state-of-the-art facilities for our students.

This new building will include a 500-seat auditorium designed to meet the needs of a modern seminary chapel. Additionally, the building will include a large student gathering area with a café, as well as outdoor seating areas to take advantage of the nice weather. The new building will be surrounded by landscaped parking, an expanded great lawn, a DTS monument sign on the corner of Haskell and Live Oak, and an appropriate number of trees. Because part of the purpose of the building is to provide more in the way of student life, and as a gathering spot for students, we are excited to announce that the building will also include office space for the Division of Student Life.

Lord willing, the construction of the new Chapel and Student Life Building will begin late spring 2020 and be completed spring 2021. Since we are committed to building debt-free, and since we do not utilize any tuition dollars for such purposes, all of the funding for this project is money received through the generous gifts of those who support the mission of Dallas Seminary.

Preparations have already begun for the new Chapel & Student Life Building. The Walvoord Student Center is being renovated to make room for faculty offices that will free up the land the Faculty Annex Building (old Concentra at the corner of Apple and Live Oak) is currently occupying to become a new parking lot.

  • The Cashier and the Bursar Office has moved from the first floor of Walvoord to the Business Office on the second floor of the Horner Administration Building.
  • Collins Lounge (on the second floor of Walvoord) will close Friday, October 19.
  • Hot food service in Mitchell Ministry Center will end on Thursday, October 25. Hope Coffee will continue to stay open during all of the renovations. Expanded food offerings will include several “grab and go” lunch options starting Tuesday, October 30.
  • Mabee Lounge (on the first floor of Walvoord) will move to Mitchell Ministry Center on Friday, November 9, with a new expanded seating area with soft chairs and tables. The vending machines, microwaves, and the commuter refrigerator also will move from Mabee Lounge to Mitchell Ministry Center.
  • All of the offices currently on the first and second floor of Walvoord (including Student Life, Academic Advising, World Missions, DTS Spanish Program, DTS Chinese Program, and Doctor of Ministry) will relocate to the third floor of Walvoord later in November.
  • The two classrooms on the first floor of Walvoord will remain open until Finals Week.

Thank you for your prayers for the construction and renovation teams and for those planning all the details that will make these spaces for students, faculty, and staff be the best possible. We appreciate your patience with all the disruptions as we work through these major renovations and construction projects.

Robert Riggs

VP for Campus Operations and Executive Assistant to the President