There are many abandoned buildings in rural areas today that were once the spiritual and cultural centers of the community but are now on the verge of decay as people forget them. The Abraham Wagner Memorial Chapel, in Penn Yan, NY, was such an abandoned historical place. It and the Lakeview Cemetery where it stands were donated by the Wagner family. Residents used to have high expectations for this chapel’s establishment. However, the chapel was abandoned for about 60 years and was merely used for storage.
In search of the Abraham Wagner Chapel's forgotten story and possible opportunities for renovation, this project's goal is to set up an Abraham Wagner Chapel website to collect relevant historical stories and encourage residents to write down their relevant family stories. The website will also serve as a means to disseminate chapel renovation progress to the Penn Yan community. Our hope is the website will aid in retrieving the story of this historic building, arouse the forgotten significance of the chapel, and promote public participation in Penn Yan village.
This project is an expansion of student work for CRP 5348 Design Connect.
Project lead:
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Ziyan Xu, graduate student in City & Regional Planning