Firestone Baars Chapel

By Micah Jacobson

I am from the college town of Columbia Missouri. In Columbia there are three major schools, along with several community colleges. The University of Missouri main campus is located in Columbia, along with Columbia College and Stephens College. Stephens College is all girl school. My mother attended Stephens and received here degree in education there in the early seventies.


On the Stephens College Campus there is a small elegant Chapel in the center of campus, the Firestone Baars Chapel. From the outside it has simple geometry and very little ornamentation. As one enters the building a beautiful environment is presented.

In 1939 a group of twenty young women met with the current president of Stephens College, President Wood. He asked them to tell him what building they would want built if it was to be the last building built on campus. They all answered they would like a Chapel. This began the endeavor to build the Chapel on Stephens College campus. That night they all contributed one dollar and placed them in an envelope. It was placed under the door of the student body president with a note that stated the money was to start a fund to build a Chapel on Stephens College. (Schwarz & Brent, 1997, p. 37)

As the design of the Chapel got underway the student and faculty sought a building that would represent all of their many faiths and be used to reflect a commonality of all of their religions. The design would revolve around the line dividing time and eternity and the relationship of man and God with eternity. The architect chosen for this work was Eliel Saarinen, an architect from Finland, who relocated to the US in 1923. His design was to have a round building with a dome that would cover it. This emphasized the idea of eternity that the students and faculty wanted to portray. There was also to be a reflecting pool that would be used to separate the patrons of the Chapel from the outside world and create a place of seclusion and sanctity. (Schwarz & Brent, 1997, p. 38)

Eliel pasted away on July 1, 1950, seven days after the Korean War began. During this time the College was suffering from a shortage of money. Due to these social and economical conditions the plans for the Chapel where brought to a standstill. During this time the college appointed a new president, Thomas Spragens. In 1953 he was able to commission Eliel’s son, Eero Saarinen. Eero had been working with his father for seventeen years before his death and was branching out on his own


The design was vastly different from Eliel’s; the cylinder was replaced with a cube and the dome with a pyramid. As I entered the chapel I couldn’t help but feel separated from the world. The Chapel is located just off of Broadway, a very busy street, but I found piece and solitude in the Chapel. It is a very spiritual place to go. I found myself looking up at the ceiling, at the wood structure, at the skylight and beyond it into the heavens. The Chapel had a different feeling than other Chapels I had experienced. Being void of any religious symbols it is a welcoming place for all denominations and is used by all. It is a small, very personal, and inspiring space to be in.

The Firestone Baars Chapel holds a lot of meaning for many people in Columbia. My grandfather, Daniel Hall, who was a craftsman, was originally asked to build the Chapel. After the redesign and re-commission he was building another project and couldn’t do the job and another craftsman was chosen. He was able to give me some personal insight into the construction and history of the Chapel. Another person affected by this elegant Chapel was Madeline Grapes (1908-1995). She taught at Stephens College and shared here love with many people, including Dr. Schwarz who was one of the authors of the only document I found written on the Chapel (Schwarz & Brent, 1997, p. 46). Dr. Schwarz shared his experience here and the Chapel to a group of students including myself while setting in it sanctuary. Firestone Baars is a small Chapel that has affected the lives of many people in this small college town. It inspired many who went to school at Stephen’s and many who never sat in a class but just visited the Chapel, sat, and pondered there. I hope more is published in the future to recognize this great Chapel and the great people who contributed to its construction.