DATE: September 28, 2006
MEDIA CONTACT: Melanie McDonald, director of media relations
PHONE: 574-284-4579
E-MAIL: mmcdonal@saintmarys.edu

State-of-the-Art Academic Building Coming to Saint Mary’s College

NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Saint Mary’s College will break ground on a
state-of-the-art academic building on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 4:30 p.m. The
public is welcome to attend. The facility will incorporate updated
technology, more laboratory space, and environmentally sustainable
practices and materials.

The building is part of the College’s master plan, a renovation and
construction effort designed to better serve students, faculty and
staff. Saint Mary’s has already completed construction of a new dining
hall, student center, welcome center, apartment-style housing, and a
clubhouse.

More than 600 donors—faculty, staff, alumnae, current and past parents,
students, and friends of the College—funded the academic building,
exceeding the $16.5 million goal to cover construction costs and an
operating endowment. Saint Mary’s has more than 100 percent of the cost
secured in gifts and pledges, and 75 percent of that amount is cash-in-hand.

“This is going to be a wonderful building that fulfills our dream of
having a world-class academic facility,” says Dr. Carol Ann Mooney,
president of Saint Mary’s College. “It will bring updated technology
into flexible classrooms that will accommodate a variety of teaching and
learning styles; it will provide much needed laboratory space for the
social scientists and it will include both formal and informal social
space for faculty-student interaction. We have worked hard to make the
building beautiful, efficient, and environmentally friendly.”

Ballinger Architects, headquartered in Philadelphia, and Architecture
Design Group of South Bend collaborated to design the 65,000 square foot
facility.

Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs; a
large number for a school of 1500 students. The accredited programs
are: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing.

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