Abbot Pennings answers a question about the oldest building on campus, archived from the SNC website

Lepak, Benjamin, \u2716

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St. Norbert College

St. Norbert College Digital Commons @ St. Norbert College Ask the Abbot Alumni Relations 10-2015 I heard that Main Hall is not the oldest building on campus. Can that be true? Benjamin Lepak '16 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/asktheabbot Alumni Ask the Abbot October 2015October 2015Question:Dear Abbot Pennings,I heard that Main Hall is not the oldest building on campus.Can that be true?Benjamin Lepak ’16Answer:Dearest Benjamin,Indeed, this is an assumption that is easily made, as thecornerstone of Main Hall bears the date (so early in ourhistory) of 1903. But I must inform you that, contrary topopular belief, this beloved landmark is by no means the oldestbuilding on campus.Five years before that cornerstone was laid, we erected ourfirst priory. It stood on the current site, although all thatremained of that early building was razed in 1962. Old St.Joseph Church was here before even that date, of course. Itwas our reason for settling here, and so it, too, is oftenmistaken for the oldest building on campus. In fact, that honorgoes to another church, one that was founded by our Baptistbrethren in 1874.The St. John’s building on Third Street was first a Baptistchurch, then home to a Lutheran congregation, before it waspurchased by our college in 1961. Since then, it housed in turnclassrooms, labs, studios, faculty offices and several collegedepartments before its transformation into the Cassandra VossCenter. It pleases me that, under its new guise, the buildingAs the founder of St.Norbert College, andhaving a prime seat in thecenter of campusthroughout the years, I,Abbot Bernard Pennings,hold the answers to manyof your burning questionsabout the college.Submit Your QuestionAsk The AbbotAlumniEvents & ReunionsBehind the ArchBenefits and ServicesGet InvolvedGive to SNCAlumni AwardsKnight LightsAlumni-OwnedBusinesses NetworkAlumni BoardStudent AlumniAmbassadorsStaffALUMNI  PARENTS  LOCAL COMMUNITY  STUDENTS  FACULTY & STAFF  A-Z INDEXAcademics  Admission  Campus Life  Living Norbertine  Athletics  About  still brings people together in fellowship, understanding andreconciliation; the center is the focus for conversation about“ideas of gender and identity” that seem to me most spiritual innature. Those terms themselves may be new to me, as I hereconfess, but such exploration of the human soul as it yearns forcommunio has been the work of Christian peoples for the pasttwo millenia, to be sure.The St. Boniface Church, once our bookstore and now ourDudley Birder Hall, was constructed nine years after St. John's,in 1883.If I may, though, I would like to make a case for our ownparish church as the most venerable site on campus. Thepresent building dates from 1890, but its history truly datesback two further centuries. Please indulge me in this history lesson:Originally located on the site where the church now stands wasa modest chapel, erected in 1676 by Father Albanal, a buildingthat stood for nearly 200 years. Almost a century later, twoJesuit missionaries were murdered near the site of the presentchurch. (This tragedy forms the basis for the contention thatthe city of De Pere received its name from the phrase “DeuxPeres,” meaning “two fathers.”)In 1870, Bishop Joseph Melcher of Green Bay established theparish to serve French Canadian settlers who were employed inarea lumber mills. The land for the parish was gifted by JaneDousman and blessed by the bishop on Christmas Day. Thefirst pastor of the parish was Father Vemare.In 1889, the original building was demolished after beingstruck by lightning. The current church was dedicated one yearlater, in September 1890.Although it has undergone several renovations in theintervening century or more, those who enter this most sacredspace know that they are worshiping within the same brickwalls that first received their college’s founder. Well, Benjamin, do please forgive this somewhat lengthydisquisition in response to your simple question. I am evergrateful to our dear students whose inquiries so often inspirethese turns down memory lane!Responses to “Ask the Abbot” questions are penned by St.Norbert College staff in the name of Abbot Bernard Pennings,O.Praem., who founded St. Norbert College in 1898. St. Norbert College100 Grant Street De Pere, WI 54115 920-337-3181 Map & Directions Contact UsCareersLibraryNewsEventsBox OfficeUndergraduateGraduateSchneider School ofBusiness & Economics© 2021 St. Norbert College  |   Nondiscrimination Policy  |   Land Acknowledgement  |   Privacy Statement  |  Site Accessibility  |  Title IX

I heard that Main Hall is not the oldest building on campus. Can that be true?

https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1101&context=asktheabbot

I heard that Main Hall is not the oldest building on campus. Can that be true?

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