Sewanee Seminary To Get Bigger Home
Episcopal News Service. April 19, 1984 [84079]
SEWANEE, Tenn. (DPS, April 19) -- The School of Theology at the University of the South, which has made its home in the four-story St. Luke's Hall for 106 years will move across the University campus this summer to the former location of the Sewanee Academy.
The former Academy administration and classroom building, Hamilton Hall, is already undergoing renovation and is expected to be ready for a late summer move.
"The new location will provide us with more space and more flexibility than we have in St. Luke's Hall," said the Very Rev. John E. Booty, of the School of Theology, who anticipates a growth in enrollment for the seminary. "Even this year's junior class must meet in the old library reading room because there is no classroom large enough."
The move may represent an even more significant change than is obvious in the abandonment of St. Luke's Hall for the roomier home almost a mile away. Altogether at least three major buildings will be part of the new School of Theology campus -- Hamilton Hall, the large Quintard Hall dormitory and Cravens Hall, with its auditorium and dining hall. The buildings have been virtually vacant since the Academy and St. Andrew's School merged almost two years ago.
The opportunities to expand the University's outreach and seminary programs were of major interest to Robert M. Ayers Jr., the vice-chancellor and president of the University. Ayres initiated a study a year and a half ago to consider potential uses of the Academy facilities. The move of the Seminary is only the first of these potential changes.
Two newly-funded programs will welcome space in the facilities -- the Peace and Justice Project, which is planning a major Anglican colloquium, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SCPK/USA) which was recently inaugurated at Sewanee and is jointly sponsored by both the university and the British Society.
The new campus will also be the focus of the Episcopal World Mission Conference. Begun five years ago, the conference has grown to where this year's enrollment is anticipated to be 300 people.
Ayres has also expressed interest in beginning a stewardship center for evangelism and a variety of programs designed to enhance parish and diocesan life. In discussing opportunities offered by the facilities, he said he is seeking a stronger role than ever for Sewanee in the mission of the Episcopal Church.
The renovation of Hamilton Hall involves the creation of faculty offices from a few of the classrooms and the development of guest quarters and meeting rooms. The building already contains an auditorium and spacious reception areas and administrative office space, which were lacking in St. Luke's Hall.
"The school is changing and growing, and the move contributes to the realization of positive change and growth," said Booty, who added that Hamilton Hall has an openness of design more in keeping with the forward-looking attitude of the seminary.
Far from remaining vacant, St. Luke's Hall will provide much-needed space for the College of Arts and Sciences, including faculty offices, administrative offices, meeting rooms and perhaps guest apartments and dormitory rooms.