New space for the University’s Roman Catholic community
Students taking the bus to campus from downtown may have seen the permit sign hung on the corner of Gordon Street and Dean Avenue last fall, where a property was being renovated and re-zoned into a religious establishment. That home is now the Newman Centre, a fully furnished space that’s open to students to attend mass, study, and hold social events.
Sponsored by the Diocese of Hamilton, the renovations were completed last fall. Bishop Crosby of the Diocese came to bless the space on Oct. 28, and the final step was gaining occupancy status, which was achieved late last year. The official open house was held on Jan. 15 to show off the centre’s brand new interior.
The main objectives of the renovation were accessibility and the creation of an oratory, a chapel where mass is now held three times a week. Other features include permanent office space for Fr. Morley and campus minister Ania Krysciak, a student lounge, a full kitchen, and a library.
For Krysciak, maintaining frequent contact with students is one of the highlights of the new centre.
“It’s just a big place to hang out—you can build a community,” said Krysciak.
Historically, Newman Centres have existed to create a link between Catholic students and members of the community, as a space where people could meet to worship and pray, study, and socialize.
John Henry Newman, the centre’s namesake, sought to prioritize higher learning for Catholics in the mid-19th century. He advocated creating a space where students could integrate their faith with their studies.
“I think that a centre like this continues his vision of students being able to have a space of conversation across disciplines,” said Fr. Morley.
“It’s very much a place of learning for me, just as much as my office and my laboratory are,” said Derek Plotkowski, who is pursuing his PhD in plant agriculture.
[media-credit id=119 align=”aligncenter” width=”1020″]
Since the house has heritage status as part of the College Hill Heritage District, it was important that the renovations preserve the building’s exterior as much as possible.
The renovations proved to be a way to dig into the home’s history, which dates back to the 1890s.
The home was built and owned by the Dean family before Dean Avenue ever existed. In the 1960s, the home was purchased from that estate by the Diocese of Hamilton along with the property next to it, 329 Gordon Street, (which is now the Dunara House, a rehabilitation centre).
The home was originally a Newman Centre with a residence next door, but the Chaplain in charge of the properties in the 1970s left the space and opted to hold mass on campus, closer to the students.
The houses then became a St. John Bosco orphanage, and then the Dunara House.
The Diocese began using the house again in 2014, when it was decided that the space would once again become a student centre.
Fr. Mark Morley was appointed to oversee the renovations, which began last year. However, tearing down the old drywall unearthed more history than he was expecting.
“When the renovations were first starting, there was a lot of demolition that had to be done inside. One of the walls opened up, and in the wall, completely sealed, were these papers,” recalled Fr. Morley.“There were letters from the 1960s from the Chaplain to the Bishop. There were letters from students who were applying to live at the residence next door. There were random things like hydro bills. Somebody just stuffed these papers in the wall and we had no idea that they were there.”
Fr. Morley plans to archive the papers, considering they’re all over half a century old. Furthermore, the discovery sparked an idea among current students and staff.
“Talking to the students, we came up with the idea that we should have a time capsule as well,” said Fr. Morley.
The new time capsule is set to be stored in the wall of the Newman Centre’s worship space.
“We’re still talking about what to put in it,” said Fr. Morley. “I kind of like the idea of sealing it away in there and just not talking about it, so that somebody else might discover it the same way we discovered those papers.”
Time capsule aside, the Newman Centre aims to be a welcoming student space for years to come.
Photos by Claire Wilcox/The Ontarion