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After two years of construction, Hobart Hall, the historic centerpiece of the American Baptist Seminary of the West’s complex on Dwight Way, has been renovated and rejuvenated for the 21st century.  

“Previously it was a rather dark and dreary building that also had earthquake damage from the ’89 quake,” said seminary president Dr. Keith A. Russell. “Now it’s a beautifully bright building with wonderful natural light and good modern lighting. Every floor has its own kind of pattern and its special feel to it. It’s like a wonderfully restored building where people like to come to work.” 

The four-story brick Tudor Revival building was designed by Julia Morgan and dedicated in 1921. Morgan, one of California’s most famous architects, also designed Hearst Castle in San Simeon as well as many residences and public buildings throughout the Bay Area. 

The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 only caused a few cracks and dislodged bricks, Russell said, and the renovation was undertaken primarily to modernize and brighten an aging building that lacked light, space, and modern wiring. With a $3 million budget, about half from a capital campaign and half from the sale of a nearby seminary-owned property, work began in January, 1999. 

Engineers quickly realized that the building was not unreinforced masonry, as a previous engineer had surmised, but had a concealed concrete frame.  

“The seismic retrofit was voluntary,” said R. Gary Black, an associate professor of architecture at UC Berkeley. Black heads Integral Structures, the firm that carried out the renovation, designed the St. Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church in Santa Rosa, and was half the team that submitted the “sail” design for the Bay Bridge’s eastern span in 1997. 

One of the biggest challenges was to install an elevator, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Black said. Because the building is a city of Berkeley historical landmark, the builders could not tear down or even modify exterior walls. Rather than take up office and classroom space, they placed the elevator shaft outside the building in a shaft of ornamental cast concrete. The elevator itself has a glass-paneled backside that allows a view of the inner courtyard, and the archway that extends from the shaft to an adjacent building gained a second-story covered walkway and lounge. 

The most daunting task was to bring more light into classrooms and gathering spaces. 

“The amount of lighting that was considered okay in 1919 was like 20 candle power,” Black said. “And today, 80 is the code requirement, and most people expect 100. So you’ve got a fivefold increase in our expectations of light inside a building.” 

The old interior paneling was of fumed oak, a dark wood stained even darker with ammonia. Renovators painted the panels in a variety of pronounced colors, from auburns to bright blues with maroon and green highlights, installed bright halogen lights, and put stained-glass panes in tilting upper windows to soften the inside light.  

“We’re trying to recreate daylight inside these buildings,” Black said. With halogen light reflecting off multicolored hand-painted friezes, he said, “we’re getting this highly colored reflected light bouncing around inside these rooms.” 

Major changes were made to the fourth floor, originally a maze of ten small, dark rooms that housed students until the early 1960s. 

“We got rid of that, cut through the ceiling, put a skylight through the roof, and put a stained glass vaulted ceiling through that space,” said Black. “(Julia Morgan) might have done the same thing herself if she didn’t have to put dormitories up there.” 

The hall, with room for 150 people, will be dedicated to Dr. J. Alfred Smith, a professor of preaching at the seminary and pastor of the Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, one of the largest African-American congregations in the Bay Area. The seminary, at 2606 Dwight Way, will open its doors on Oct. 6 from 2 to 5 p.m. for a dedication ceremony and public tours. 

One room on the second floor in front was rarely used because its north-facing windows let in scant light and too much street noise. The architects installed new window painted faceted, bright acrylic friezes intended to maximize the limited sunlight. The room will be named for Billie Poole, a staff member of 25 years. 

The new Drexler Student Commons, a first-floor room previously used as a chapel, is named for Dr. Frederic Drexler, the first president of the California Baptist Seminary, which merged with the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School in 1968 to form the American Baptist Seminary of the West. The faculty commons will be named after Dr. Eldon Ernst, a faculty member for 30 years who is now retired.  

“We’re trying to honor people who are committed to us and who reflect the multi-racial, multicultural nature of our training,” Russell said, noting that half the seminary’s students are African-American and half are women.