Tommie stands and watches as university chaplain Rev. Lawrence Blake speaks. Blake emphasized the faith goals that the new Iverson Center for Faith wants to achieve Thursday. (Emily Haugen/TommieMedia)
The feast of St. Thomas Aquinas on March 7, 1918 was the first celebration held in the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel. One hundred years later, the university plans to renovate and expand the building in an effort to establish it as the new spiritual center of campus.
Construction of the new Iversen Center for Faith is set to begin in May 2019 and will be completed and ready for use by fall 2020.
“It’s going to bring everybody together,” art history and architecture professor Victoria Young said.
The center will include a multipurpose gathering room, an amphitheater and rooms for interfaith worship, most namely a location for prayer.
This concept art shows one side of the chapel after undergoing renovation. The chapel’s new addition is expected to be complete by fall 2020. (Photo courtesy of the University of St. Thomas)
St. Thomas announced that the renovation and expansion will be completely funded through donations instead of tuition dollars.
“The expansion will be totally funded by philanthropy,” President Julie Sullivan said. “We’re really grateful that they (donors) are stepping up once again to help make this dream of the chapel a reality.”
In order to maintain the original facade of the chapel, the university has decided to build the majority of additions underground.
Young said the additions seen above ground will be made of glass and are intended to visually elevate the chapel, especially when lit at night.
“The building that would come to support the chapel had to do exactly that,” Young said. “It had to be a building that made the chapel better than it is right now, both in its use and its aesthetic presence on campus.”
Several construction groups presented their designs for the project. Ultimately, the Opus Group was selected for its design that blends the old and the new. Tunnels will be implemented to connect the space to Murray-Herrick Center.
This addition of space is not simply cosmetic.
“I did have in mind, since I began at St. Thomas, to ensure that we’re living up to our responsibility to really support every student in our community on their faith journey or their spiritual journey, and that we had space that facilitated that,” Sullivan said.
President Sullivan addresses the crowd. The new Iverson Center for Faith will include a multipurpose gathering room, an amphitheater and rooms for interfaith worship. (Emily Haugen/TommieMedia)
The Rev. Lawrence Blake, university chaplain, sees it as a part of St. Thomas’ ongoing mission to bring the campus together.
“It enhances what has been there for a hundred years and makes this a space where all of our students will be able to feel welcome,” he said.
The addition will provide rooms for gathering, worship, prayer and relaxation as a service for all students.
The university is hopeful that the space will provide more opportunity for interfaith dialogue.
“I think it will be a big step forward to make it a more inclusive space,” Blake said.
The chapel is the third-oldest building on campus. It is the first building on campus to undergo a renovation of this kind.
This is the first of two construction announcements St. Thomas plans to make this month.
Emily Haugen can be contacted at haug7231@stthomas.edu.