Moravian Preservation Master Plan.indb - Society for College and ...

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
The building contained classrooms, a basement
gymnasium, and dormitory rooms on the three
upper floors.
Comenius was designed in an elaborate Romanesque
style by A.W. Leh, a Lehigh Valley architect who
specialized in church and academic buildings,
including several buildings at Lehigh University.
Figure 8-178. Comenius Hall, front view to west (JMA 2008).
The rusticated Potsdam sandstone façade is adorned
with Wyoming bluestone, Indiana limestone, terra
cotta ornament and Moravian tiles, and its roof is
made of local slate.
Within two years after the completion of the main
building, the Helen Stadiger Borhek Memorial
Chapel was added to the north end of Comenius.
The elegant Gothic Revival chapel was donated
by Mr. and Mrs. Ashton C. Borhek in memory of
their daughter. It was dedicated in 1893. An 1896
pipe organ was replaced in 1950 with a new pipe
organ, given by the Burwell Smith family (Weinlick
1977:4,85).
The Harvey Memorial Library, a gift to the school
from John Cennick and Charles Edward Harvey
in memory of their parents, was constructed in
1907-1908. Its 1907 cornerstone-laying coincided
with the school’s Centennial celebration. In 1910,
a Students’ Hall was established on the library’s
third floor. The room occupied the entire floor and
Figure 8-179. Comenius Hall, rear view to northeast (JMA
2008).
Figure 8-181. Comenius Hall, Borhek Memorial Chapel, front
view to northwest (JMA 2008).
Figure 8-180. Comenius Hall, rear view to northeast (JMA
2008).
Figure 8-182. Comenius Hall, Borhek Memorial Chapel, view to
southeast (JMA 2008).
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 8 • Historic Buildings • 231