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| Construction - Campus Mall
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This artist's rendering shows Founders Plaza, looking north toward the Gorges Atrium.
Construction has begun on a pedestrian mall designed to unite the De Mattias Fine Arts Center/O'Shaughnessy Hall complex with the new Dugan Library and Campus Center and the rest of the Newman campus. The project is expected to be completed in May and will be dedicated during the university's 75th Anniversary celebration.
"This mall is designed to create outdoor gathering spaces as well as more pastoral spaces for our students, faculty, staff and visitors to enjoy," said Vice President for Finance and Administration Mark Dresselhaus. "In some respects it knits together those public-use spaces like the De Mattias Fine Arts Center and the Dugan Library and Campus Center, which will be areas of increasingly greater activity."
The mall covers the area where McCormick Street ran before it was re-routed north of campus. It will include a "Founders Plaza" south of Gorges Atrium honoring the Adorers of the Blood of Christ (ASC). The plaza will feature a large Newman seal, dedicated to the seventh president, the late Robert J. Giroux, Ph.D., and a statue of Saint Maria De Mattias, made possible by a gift from Anne (Carney) '79 and Bob '83 Simpson. The statue will stand on a pedestal made of bricks inscribed with the names of all 239 ASCs who have worked at Newman since its founding.
"The committee of faculty and staff members that designed the mall wanted to give special recognition to the ASC for their lead gift to the Dugan Library and Campus Center, and provide a prominent space on campus to recognize all ASCs who have contributed to the development of Newman University," said Vice President for Institutional Advancement Tom Borrego.
The mall also includes a patio just off the Art Room of the De Mattias Fine Arts Center which could be used for outdoor class sessions, speakers or small concerts. Another impressive feature will be the "Jess Cornejo Plaza" which will sit to the northeast of the library. To read a news release about the gift given for the naming of the Jess Cornejo Plaza, click here.
The plazas and patio will be connected by a winding path lined with park benches, and the entire area will be landscaped with shrubs, trees and flowers donated by longtime Newman supporter Brady Nursery. Another wider pathway, created with support from an anonymous donor, will connect the Cornejo Plaza to the Dugan-Gorges Conference Center. The mall will also feature a sitting area recognizing the late G. Lawrence Keller through a gift from his son Terry '68 and Terry's wife Gretchen '69 Keller.
In addition to the mall project, the parking lots west of De Mattias and Sacred Heart Hall will be joined, adding 57 parking spaces. A statue of the Lady of Fatima donated to Newman by Helen Bergkamp will be placed on the lawn southwest of Sacred heart Hall. The project is expected to be completed in May.
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