Part of the Lynch-Raine Administration Building is named for George W. Atkinson, the 10th Governor of West Virginia, and a respected Lay Speaker in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
This space, built in 1906, was known as College Chapel, and served as the major gathering space on campus until Wesley Chapel was built in 1967. Renamed Atkinson Chapel in 1922, was used for daily and weekly required chapel services, convocations, concerts, theater productions, guest speakers, Commencement, and even thuses. It was a space that created community.
After 1967, when Wesley Chapel was built, it was referred to as Atkinson Auditorium.
When the Virginia Thomas Law Center for Performing Arts opened in 2009, Atkinson was closed. After a decade of being used mainly for storage, efforts were made to restore and renovate this important and historic space. In 2019 a portion of the stage area reopened for small classes and the black box theatre.
Related reading:
George W. Atkinson. [McGrew, DreamersAndGiants]