Hope College celebrated the restoration of Graves Hall with a rededication ceremony on Friday Oct. 9, 2009. Graves Hall re-opened at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year in August after a year-long, .7 million, adaptive restoration that has emphasized a return to the building's original character while updating the 19th-century landmark for use in the 21st. The rededication events were scheduled in conjunction with the college's Homecoming Weekend, during which hundreds of alumni returned to campus for class reunions and other activities. During the 30-minute ceremony, the college's Alumni Association presented a Meritorious Service Award to Dr. Elton Bruins, who is former director of the college's AC Van Raalte Institute and the Evert J. and Hattie E. Blekkink Professor Emeritus of Religion at Hope and played a role in the restoration planning as a scholar of the building's history. Bruins shares a brief overview of the origins of the building. The ceremony also features discussion of the renovation process by Jim Stroop, president of Lakewood Construction, and Philip M. Davis, vice president and senior architect with Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber Inc.; and a reading of the 1892 cornerstone ceremony speech by Juan Martinez of Holland, who is a Hope junior and former Upward Bound and Children's After School Achievement (CASA) program student. Other participants include Joel Bouwens, chairperson of the college's Board of Trustees; Bill Boersma, a member of the ...
