After months of extensive renovations, Holden Chapel will reopen this afternoon with an initiation ceremony preceding the first choral rehearsal in the new hall.

Last year, the Faculty Council's Classroom Committee voted to redesign Holden Chapel, then the headquarters of several University choral groups.

The renovations created spaces for class lectures as well as improved facilities for the choirs who rehearse in the former chapel.

Renovations included the removal of a staircase and the addition of two bathrooms.

In addition, engineers have studied the acoustics in the main hall, hoping to construct a chamber that will improve the quality of music performances.

Three choirs, the Harvard Glee Club, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and the Radcliffe Choral Society will rehearse in the chapel.

Director of Choral Activities Jameson N. Marvin estimated that the main hall will hold about 70 people.

According to Georgene B. Herschbach '63, chair of the Classroom Committee, the University will now be able to hold lecture classes in the new space. Before the renovations, Holden Chapel was not equipped with chairs and desks.