Christendom College granted waiver for chapel

County Administrator Doug Stanley and Supervisor Tony Carter.

FRONT ROYAL –Christendom College is free to proceed on plans for a new $13.5 million chapel on its campus, following a Tuesday night decision by the Warren County Board of Supervisors to grant a height waver modification request on the original permit for the new facility.

The waiver was necessary for the chapel’s proposed design of a 45-foot-high main structure to be built, because it exceeds Warren County’s height restrictions for buildings by five feet The proposed 137-foot spire is exempted.

The county code allows the Board of Supervisors to modify conditions on permits following a public hearing on proposed changes.

The panel did voice concerns about county fire equipment being able to reach the upper portions of the building.  North River District Supervisor Daniel J. Murray questioned James O’Brien, with the architectural firm O’Brien & Keane, about the design, asking, “Why design five feet higher than the ordinance?”

O’Brien stated that it might seem arbitrary, but the extra five feet provided “an amazing difference to the interior proportions.”  

Michael Foeckler, Christendom’s Vice President for Operations and Facility Planning, assured the board that the new chapel would provide an access road for fire and rescue vehicles; there is currently a road at the school surrounding the library, he stated.

Warren County Fire Marshal Gerry Maiatico was on hand for the meeting.  He stated that, with an access road, county fire equipment would be able to handle an emergent situation at the chapel at the 45-foot height.

Several citizens appeared to speak in favor of the request; no one spoke in opposition.

The county issued a conditional-use permit to Christendom College in July 1994 to run a private school off Shenandoah Shores Road  in Warren County.  The college purchased additional land in 2016, which is slated for the new chapel and a parking area.  

Christendom announced in September “A Call to Greatness” $40 million campaign, consisting of a $13.5 million Christ the King Project, $13.5 million in contributions to its endowment fund and $13 million toward its annual fund. The private Catholic liberal arts college has raised over 70-percent of the goal. School officials say they hope to wrap up the campaign ahead of Christendom’s 40^th anniversary next year.

Christendom was founded in 1977.  It lies within the Diocese of Arlington and serves students at locations in Front Royal; Alexandria; Rome, Italy and Donegal, Ireland.