Construction Begins for Opus Hall
O'Connell honors '76 grad who donated $3 million to project
Ryan J. Reilly
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: News
|
The seven-story, 125,000 square foot building, to be built on the north end of campus, will house 400 upperclassmen students when it opens in 2009, as part of the University's efforts to accommodate the expected increase in class sizes.
Already the University is having trouble accommodating all the students who applied for housing in the next academic year. It will have to turn away about 175 upperclassmen seeking on-campus rooms.
More than 200 students, faculty, staff and community leaders attended the groundbreaking of Opus, which is named in recognition of the Opus Group, the construction company contracted to build it, and its founder Neil J. Rauenhorst, who along with his wife Becky, donated $3 million to the facility. Rauenhorst, a 1976 graduate of the School of Architecture and Planning, is the president of NJR Development Company in Tampa, Florida, and has been a member of the University board of trustees for five years.
Rev. David M. O'Connell, president of the University, said the groundbreaking was "another chapter in the ongoing story of alumni giving back to alma mater so that the lives of future generations of students might be better." Rauenhorst, said O'Connell, knows "the value of hard work, the Catholic faith and a good education."
O'Connell said that within the next two years, the University expects to enroll a freshman class of over 1,000 students. The current freshman class began the academic year with 870 students, according to Christine Mica, the director of admissions. Mica said the University expects a larger freshman class in the fall, but the final number of students in the class of 2011 is not yet known. Opus Hall, said Mica, will be used as a selling point for prospective students.
"We will definitely talk about [Opus Hall] and highlight the growth at the University," said Mica. "There is definitely room to grow; it's a really exciting time for the University." Mica said that the University understands that it only has a limited amount of space, but that the larger classes will not have an overwhelming impact. "It's a growth that has been planned for, that we're excited about and that is necessary for the University to maintain its presence."
Be the first to comment on this story