St. Paul’s University Catholic Center, a major presence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for more than 100 years, plans to build a modern residential college facility on the UW campus. St. Paul Catholic Student Center and Residential College will enable St. Paul’s to better serve the university and campus community.
St. Paul Catholic Student Center and Residential College
The new facility will employ a “residential college” concept, blending residential, faith, community and academic aspects of the university experience.
The proposed facility is 14 stories tall. Features, based on feedback from students and the community, include:
- A 400- to 600-seat multilevel chapel incorporating reclaimed elements of St. Paul’s original 1909 chapel
- A student center with private study space, small- and large-group gathering space, music rooms and offices
- Office space, including conference and work rooms
- Residential rooms and two- and three-bedroom apartments for UW students
- Dining hall
- Residential space for priests and visiting scholars
Residential space can accommodate 175 to 200 people and will be open to all students, regardless of faith, who wish to live in a community that focuses on the premise of integrating faith and intellectual development.
The building design combines traditional Catholic forms and symbolism with a modern energy. It complements the surrounding university buildings and Library Mall while respecting the scenic, uninterrupted expanse between Bascom Hill and Capitol Square.
Cost of the new facility is estimated at $45 million and is expected to come from a small group of benefactors who have long supported projects like this. Groundbreaking is anticipated in the next two to three years.
St. Paul’s Ministry
Student involvement in St. Paul’s has grown significantly over the past 10 years and is way beyond the ability of the existing facility to meet these expanding needs. The current facility, parts of which date back to the late 1800s, is severely outdated, extremely cramped and in need of major upgrades.
St. Paul’s serves thousands of UW students annually. Approximately 1,000 students attend Sunday Mass, and hundreds are actively involved in other St. Paul programs — ranging from small group sessions to national service projects. Additionally, St. Paul’s hosts dances, a theater arts program, a speaker series and concerts designed to appeal to all students and community members, extending the university’s reach beyond its campus borders.
St. Paul’s is the birthplace of the campus Catholic ministry in the United States. UW’s Catholic campus ministry was formed in 1883, and graduates who were part of this group started the “Newman Movement,” designed to serve Catholics on college campuses. St. Paul’s Chapel was built in 1909, the first Catholic chapel built specifically to serve students at a public university. While the chapel and student center were renovated in 1967, a new, 21st century facility is the only way St. Paul’s can continue serving the community’s evolving needs.