Prince Crossing Campus
Alumni Chapel
Perhaps the most important new addition to the campus was the Chapel. It came from Camp Ellis in Bernadotte, Illinois, where it served as a training facility and prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. At the peak of the war, the building housed 40,000 military and civilian personnel and nearly 5,000 prisoners. In 1949, it was declared excess and approved for disposal, with surplus put up for sale.
In 1950, Wheaton College Assistant to the President Wyeth Willard used his military chaplain connections to apply for permission to purchase an Army chapel from the closed camp. Academy parents and friends stepped up to assist with the financial costs. The building itself cost only $1250, but the disassembly, transportation, and reassembly of the structure reportedly cost between $50,000 and $75,000.
Piece by piece, the chapel was transported to the Academy campus. After a new foundation was laid, the chapel was reconstructed with several additions, including a basement and choir loft. The new chapel was dedicated on June 8, 1951.
