This is exciting. Emmaus Hall, home to the School of Theology and Seminary in at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, is about to be renovated. Groundbreaking for the first stage – chapel and refectory – will be this late summer or soon thereafter. It has been my delightful burden the past several months to serve on several time-consuming committees dealing with plans for the entire building, chapel redesign, possibilities for a new pipe organ, and audio/video plans via renowned acoustical consultant Scott Riedel.
Here is a video on the spiritual foundation for this renovation project:
Soon we will be able to share more about the exciting plans which are still in progress. Suffice it to say that we are doing this right – this is a massive reconception, not just a touchup. New altar, ambo, seating – made from Saint John’s oak? Commissioned contemporary vestments designed for this space? Commissioned suspended crucifix in neo-Italianate style over the altar? New statue of Our Lady? Acoustics requiring only modest amplification at the ambo, with all music-making unamplified in a resonant space? And so forth. It will be exciting to see how plans develop.
awr