A former school chapel in Maryland now houses a hotel bar, prompting criticism from some who want it relocated.

A petition with over 3,000 signatures is requesting that the owners of a chapel-turned bar in a Maryland Marriott property refrain from serving alcohol from the former high altar.

The Wye Oak Tavern in the Visitation Hotel's luxury boutique in Frederick, Md., is being asked by Catholics to restore the sanctity of the chapel. The restaurant has a bar surrounding the former high altar, with large stained-glass windows and statues of kneeling angels.

The restaurant, which opened on Dec. 19, is situated in the former chapel of the Visitation Convent and Academy, a Catholic all-girls school founded in 1846. The school closed in June 2016 due to low enrollment and was later purchased in 2017 and transformed into a hotel, which opened in 2024.

Elyssa Koren, a lawyer, mother of five, and Visitation Academy class of 2000 alumna, launched a petition on December 15 on Change.org, requesting the owners of the Visitation Hotel to relocate the bar from the chapel to restore its dignity.

Despite the chapel being deconsecrated appropriately for the girls of Visitation, Christians, and people of goodwill everywhere, the use of the space in this manner is evident and painful.

The petition requests that the necessary changes be made to restore the dignity and respect the holy heritage of the space, either by removing the altar and tabernacle or relocating the bar to another location.

On Thursday morning, Koren delivered the petition to the hotel and requested a meeting with management, but she has not received a response yet.

Since its sale in 2017, the Visitation Hotel's website states that the site is no longer consecrated.

"The sale agreement specified that the property and chapel were to be utilized for non-religious purposes. The hotel website notes that any sacred objects have been removed from the chapel, and any remaining items are present solely to preserve the building's historical character, as mandated by secular authorities."

In 2017, Jim O'Hare, co-developer of the Visitation Hotel, and his team paid the Archdiocese $2.75 million dollars for the property. They took every step requested by the Archdiocese, including deconsecrating the chapel, returning the tabernacle, and the relics found in the altar.

"To respect the prior use of the chapel, we went beyond deconsecration by removing the post-Vatican II altar, donating stations of the cross and crucifixes to local churches, moving statues of Virgin Mary and Joseph to our courtyard garden, and constructing the bar separately from the historic altar."

As an alumna, Koren felt it necessary to launch a petition to protect the historical and sacred significance of the former chapel.

"The petition's response reveals the extent of the outrage and suffering caused by the developer's decision, which has affected many alumnae and community members. The chapel-turned-tavern retains the appearance and atmosphere of a Catholic Church, with many holy objects still present. This has led to significant discomfort among those who find the bar's location directly at the high altar to be inappropriate."

"The decision to place the bar in that location demonstrates a clear disregard for the sacred history of the space," she stated. "Some have remarked that, although they are not religious, they find this action highly disrespectful. It is not necessary to be a Christian to perceive this as deeply offensive. Numerous individuals have expressed that they will avoid Marriott properties until this issue is resolved."

The Catholic school has a 150-year history, serving as a cloistered convent, all-girls school, and Civil War hospital.

"The best option is to move the bar to a different location," she stated. "On the other hand, the owners might think about collaborating with the local historical society to remove the marble high altar."

Wye Oak Tavern is being led by Top Chef star and James Beard semifinalist Bryan Voltaggio, along with his brother Michael Voltaggio. The restaurant posted on its Instagram two days after the petition was launched, welcoming customers to the drama.

"Koren stated that showing respect to a former place of worship is not a dramatic act, but rather a basic act of decency."

Virginia Leary, whose three aunts were nuns at the Visitation Convent and Academy for many years, including one who served as Mother Superior, stated to Planet Chronicle Digital that the chapel was the focal point of the convent.

She stated that the altar bar is offensive to her and her family because of its symbolism to her aunts and the nuns who devoted their lives to their faith, community, and the school's students.

"I expected all involved to 'honor and respect previous uses,'" she said. "However, a Visitation nun from a different monastery informed me about the petition."

"What does it mean to honor and respect someone by converting an altar into a bar?" she inquired. "I think it's important to understand why it's not appropriate to do so."

O'Hare emphasized the significance of honoring and respecting the nuns who resided and taught at Visitation, as well as the girls who attended the school, as he is a Catholic himself.

"I believe that we have accomplished that," he said.

"The alumni who initiated the petition have not witnessed our efforts in person, but are responding to photographs in the local newspaper. I urge them, as well as anyone with concerns, to visit and observe the great care we have taken to respectfully repurpose the chapel."

The Baltimore Archdiocese announced the closure of 31 churches in the Baltimore area in 2024. If the churches cannot be adaptively reused, they will be demolished, and their history and those who worshiped there will be lost, said O'Hare.

"If that were to happen, it would be detrimental to everyone," he stated. "We have been operational for 10 days and, fortunately, the restaurant and hotel have experienced robust demand."

"Our guests have expressed no concerns about the use of the former chapel," he stated. "In fact, people love hearing the stories that make up the history of Visitation. We share those stories throughout the property and on our website."

The Archdiocese of Baltimore expressed sympathy towards those who have raised concerns about the situation.

The Visitation Hotel is the first hotel in Downtown Frederick in 50 years, and the City of Frederick's economic development director, Richard Griffin, expressed his delight about it to Planet Chronicle Digital.

"The Visitation Academy's closure left the historic building vacant for nearly a decade. Renovating and adaptively reusing a large vacant historic structure like the Visitation building requires great vision and private investment, as it no longer meets contemporary building codes for handicap accessibility, life safety, and utilities."

"Thanks to their multi-million-dollar investment, the building will be fully restored and able to accommodate thousands of visitors, resulting in job creation, increased tax base, and visitor spending. This will contribute to the revitalization of historic downtown Frederick and the region."