Sacred Places
Talladega College | Honoring Our Ancestors, Enacting our Dreams, in partnership with CFNEA
Somewhere to sit outside the Chapel besides the steps.
WHERE
Talladega, AL
SETTING
Education
PARTNER INSTITUTION
The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama
Visit
Where it is
627 Battle Street West, Talladega, AL 35160
What happens here
Students, staff, and the public come to sit, reflect, and renew. The Sacred Place gives a central location for the college community and the surrounding neighbourhood to congregate and connect.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
The steps were the only seat.
01
The Need
Talladega College is Alabama's oldest private historically black college, sitting in the town's historic district in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Chapel is one of the campus hallmarks and home to most campus engagement, and outside it the chapel steps were previously the only place to sit. In an academic environment that can be intense and ever active, there was nowhere to pause and absorb what one is learning.
02
The Vision
The college has run a host of initiatives in recent years focused on increasing its interaction with the surrounding community, and the Sacred Place was another outlet for that. Original Firesoul Seddrick T. Hill Sr. spoke to how the project would unify college and community.
03
The Transformation
The Sacred Place sits outside the Chapel and provides outdoor seating where the steps had been the only option. The campus itself was already an asset the design could rely on, quiet and removed from nearby urban hustle.
WHO TENDS IT
Rachelle Williams
Firesoul, Talladega College | Honoring Our Ancestors, Enacting our Dreams, in partnership with CFNEA
Read more →
Fred Smith
Firesoul, Talladega College | Honoring Our Ancestors, Enacting our Dreams, in partnership with CFNEA
Read more →
