Construction Projects
Sitzmann Hall Addition
The Sitzmann Hall addition, as viewed from the north.
Construction Completed
Sitzmann Hall has reopened after a $4.2 million, 4,700 square-foot expansion. The building now has a new north wing with offices, a classroom,a chapel, storage areas and an elevator, along with new landscaping. The building will be blessed November 2009.
General Information
From the Bulletin Today, April 30, 2009
McGough Companies began construction Friday May 1, 2009, of an addition to Sitzmann Hall on the northeast corner of Summit and Cleveland avenues. Sitzmann is the home of the St. Thomas Center for Catholic Studies at 2055 Summit Ave. The program has occupied the building since 2003.
Crews from McGough Companies, the contractor, has installed a construction fence around the project, which is expected to take up to six months to complete. The $4.2 million, 4,700-square-foot expansion will be paid for entirely by contributions from Catholic Studies benefactors.
The addition will consist of a new north wing with offices, a classroom, a chapel, storage areas and an elevator to service all four levels. Portions of the existing third floor and low-ceiling attic will be renovated to increase interior heights.
The three-car driveway and parking area off Cleveland will be removed and replaced by green space, and the brick walls along Cleveland and the east-west alley will be rebuilt. Landscaping in the backyard will include a pergola and a meditation area.
During construction, Catholic Studies faculty and staff will be in temporary quarters on the second floor of McNeely Hall. They began to move out of Sitzmann on Wednesday and will move back into the expanded building in the fall.
“We are all set to go,” said Dr. Don Briel, director of the Center for Catholic Studies. “We are excited about the project’s design and the additional space it will provide to us.”
Catholic Studies moved into the building, previously known as Chiuminatto Hall and occupied by the Department of Music, in 2003. Subsequent program growth led to overcrowded working conditions, and expansion options were studied.
The West Summit Neighborhood Advisory Committee endorsed the project last fall and the St. Paul Heritage Preservation Commission approved it in March. The commission’s approval was necessary because Sitzmann is in the West Summit Avenue Historic District.
“The design not only provides badly needed additional space,” said Kurt Dale of Anderson Dale Architects of West St. Paul, “but it also preserves the historic character of the building’s Summit Avenue façade and is sensitive to the scale and character of the neighborhood.”
Sitzmann, a Georgian Revival building, was constructed in 1927 as a single-family house. St. Thomas acquired the house in 1943, used it for classes and music lessons and named it for Dr. Anthony Chiuminatto, Music Department chairman from 1946 to 1973. The building was renovated for Catholic Studies in 2002-2003 and named for Eugene and Faye Sitzmann of St. Paul, who are benefactors of the program.
The Sitzmann Hall addition,
as viewed from the west.
The Sitzmann Hall addition,
as viewed from the east.
