AMHERST — Even though Springfield Catholic Bishop William D. Byrne celebrated a Mass and dedicated the chapel inside the new Newman Catholic Center building on the University of Massachusetts campus last Sunday, regular Masses and other functions will not be held there until fall.
The dedication event at 111 Thatcher Road was held alongside the Rev. Gary Dailey, the director of the Newman Catholic Center, the Rev. Valentine Nworah, who serves as Newman’s chaplain, and Deacon Tom Lynch, with an invitation-only gathering of people inside the 400-seat chapel.
But a student-focused grand opening for the 19,000-square-foot, L-shaped building, with a white stone facade and flat roof, and large windows in the community spaces, isn’t until the fall semester.
In a press conference following the Mass, Dailey explained that the project’s origins began in 2012. Groundbreaking was two years ago, and there were construction delays, or as he phrases it, “twists and turns,” along the way.
“I’ve kept the faith and said ‘If God wanted this, he would see it to completion,’” Dailey said. “So all glory belongs to God today.”
Dailey said Byrne is expected to return to bless the remaining of the building at a later date.
Located on land being leased from UMass for a one-time $2.1 million payment, the building includes a chapel, a research center with private student rooms, lounges, the Newman Cafe, administrative offices, a conference room, outdoor gathering and dining spaces and gardens. D.A. Sullivan handled construction. A three-day temporary certificate of occupancy provided by the town allowed the dedication to happen.
Inside, the stained-glass windows provide much of the natural light for the chapel and its 15-seat choir loft.
The new center is replacing the 58,000-square-foot building at 472 North Pleasant St. that opened almost exactly 60 years earlier. The diocese sold that building to UMass for $12.5 million in August 2020.
Dailey thanked the capital campaign’s 661 donors, who contributed just shy of $2.35 million for the project. George “Trigger” Burke, a UMass graduate, made the lead gift.
Following the Mass, Byrne said he prayed a lot and signed a lot of papers, but that it was the Newman community that got the building finished.
“This is really a new beginning,” Byrne said. “It’s a new rebirth of an already strong and already powerful ministry here in western Massachusetts and across the commonwealth, a new phase of the building of young men and young women to be future priests and future religious, great husbands and great wives, great leaders in our communities, great Catholics, and great friends for years and years to come.”
