{"nrhp_refnum":"11000041","name":"Chapel and Cultural Center","other_names":["C+cc"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2125 Burdett Ave","address_restricted":false,"city":"Troy","county":"Rensselaer County","state":"NY","lat":42.73369555600004,"lon":-73.67198206099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-02-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story Modernist chapel and cultural center with an attached two-story chaplain's residence at 2125 Burdett Avenue, Troy, New York, completed in 1968 for the Rensselaer Newman Foundation near the RPI campus.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a distinctive example of Modernist quasi-religious architecture in Rensselaer County (Criterion C) and an important venue for the performing and visual arts in Troy (Criterion A). It is also tied to Reverend Thomas Phelan, the chaplain who drove its construction (Criterion B). It is less than 50 years old but is called exceptionally significant as a multi-purpose building that joined religion and the arts.","narrative":"Built in 1968 on a 0.75-acre lot at 2125 Burdett Avenue in Troy, the Chapel and Cultural Center combines a worship space with a venue for concerts, theater, lectures and exhibitions. It was designed by architect Peter Levatich of Levatich & Miller for the Rensselaer Newman Foundation, a Catholic ministry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The single-story building has unpainted concrete block walls, a gable roof with clerestory windows over a 60-by-60-foot main hall, a small chapel, a fountain that doubles as a baptismal font, and an attached chaplain's residence. Commissioned art includes a stained glass window by Ade Bethune, furniture by George Nakashima and floor alphabets by Edward Catich. The building is considered significant as a radical departure from typical 1960s religious architecture, a flexible multi-use design shaped by the collaboration between Levatich and Reverend Thomas Phelan. It remains in use for worship and the arts, open to members of all faiths.","period_of_significance":"1968","architect_builder":"Levatich & Miller, architects; Corina Construction Company, contractors","architectural_style":"Modern Movement","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a religious facility and cultural center; the structure remains largely as built in 1968, with door replacements in 1998, an office addition in 1999 and roof replacements in 2007-2008.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:47.950241-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/11000041.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000041/999116c2bd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000041/999116c2bd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"OhKayeSierra","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RPI_Chapel_Southeast.png\" rel=\"noopener\">OhKayeSierra</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RPI_Chapel_Southeast.png"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321194","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_%2B_Cultural_Center_at_Rensselaer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5072982"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rensselaer-county/chapel-and-cultural-center-11000041/"}