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.

"I think Holden will be an extraordinary mid-size classroom by day and choir rehearsal hall by night," Herchbach wrote in an e-mail message. "The restored space is warm and beautiful. In the morning and at night it glows with warm light."

Marvin said that the new renovations reflect the attention that Harvard is giving to its students' performing groups.

"The renovation shows a wonderful interest in the arts at Harvard," Marvin said. "We're all excited for the new place which will be a wonderful place to rehearse...and we thank everyone who worked on this project."

Since 1950, Holden Chapel has served as the official headquarters of the Harvard Glee Club, housing its offices, archives and choral library. The tradition of rehearsing at the Chapel is even older, dating back to the first decade of the century.

The Glee Club will be the first group to use the new hall, holding their first rehearsal immediately after the initiation ceremony at 4:15 p.m. this afternoon.

David A. Boyajian '00, president of the Glee Club, spoke of the traditional value of the renovated hall.

"Holden Chapel is a building of great significance in the history of choral music at American colleges, and one of great sentimental value to Harvard Glee Clubbers of the past 100 years," Boyijian wrote in an e-mail message.