I have to admit that over the last few days I've been struggling to come up with what should be my 2,000th review on Yelp.
I love Yelp. We all know that. I also love the benchmark numbers, and it feels very cool to finally snag this latest benchmark.
But, work has been nuts and life has been stressful. So, finding a "special" review has been difficult.
I'm not sure that Beck Chapel completely qualifies, though as someone who's an ordained minister it feels like an appropriate review for #2000.
I was in Bloomington exploring a special event. I sort of stumbled across Beck Chapel, completed in 1956 after IU alumni Frank O. Beck and Daisy Woodward Beck gave the university an endowment dedicated to building a chapel for prayer and medication.
It's constructed of Indiana limestone and Southern Indiana wood from the forests. It's intentionally an interfaith chapel incorporating symbols from different religious traditions. It's located on the east side of the Memorial Union and is adjacent to Dunn Cemetery.
Unless it's reserved for a private event, Beck Chapel can be reserved for weddings, memorial services, and other religious events. It is also open to the public for prayer and meditation daily (again, unless there's a private event going on).
In fact, one of the things that drew my attention to the chapel was watching a lovely young couple become engaged while I was there.
Quite awesome.
A few practical facts: You can reserve Beck Chapel seven days a week in three-hour blocks. Rental fees (which I could not find) include one-hour for rehearsal, an onsite curator, a dressing room, restrooms, two candelabras (with white candles), a guest book stand, and for an extra fee you can get a Jacobs School of Music student to play the organ.
Beck Chapel is available for events seven days a week. You may reserve a three-hour block of time that includes an hour for preparation, an hour for the ceremony, and an hour for cleanup.
For weddings, you can use your own officiant.
I was surprised that it's relatively strong in accessibility. If you're familiar with it, you know it's not a big chapel. However, it feels like it's more than enough with room for small to moderate sized events. The closest I could find to capacity info said "around" 100 people.
This isn't a blockbuster place to snag my 2,000th review. However, if you know me then you know it feels right. I'm not sure why I'd never seen it before, but I'm awfully glad I discovered it and will no doubt go back when I'm in Bloomington to enjoy more prayer and meditation. read more