Dozens of construction workers are busy in Moreau Seminary, installing double pane windows, painting dormitory rooms, raising walls for staff offices and adding accessibility ramps to complement the building’s numerous stairs.
The seminary, which opened in 1958 to house up to 200 seminarians in an era of rapidly growing vocations, is being updated to serve a new generation of Congregation of Holy Cross religious men.
It’s the first major renovation in the building’s history.
There are fewer seminarians in the 21st century, but the seminary’s mission is no less crucial and living there remains a foundational experience for prospective priests and brothers, says Rev. Jim Gallagher, CSC, ’98, ’06M.Div., superior and rector of the facility.
Moreau curves gracefully in an east-west arc, like arms outstretched toward St. Joseph Lake. Nestled in the curve is the chapel, with its large wall of colorful stained glass. On the front lawn overlooking the lake is a stainless steel cross that towers 80 feet high and weighs 16,000 pounds.
The seminary residents and staff moved out in May 2024. They are living temporarily in nearby Sacred Heart Parish Center, which was built in 1919 as the original Moreau Seminary.
The 140,000-square-foot Moreau is being updated to address aging mechanical systems, improve accessibility and reconfigure spaces to meet the congregation’s needs today. Residents will start moving back in during August and the work is expected to finish in the fall.
The update retains the seminary’s midcentury modern aesthetic, with clean lines, simple forms and views of the lake and, in the distance, the Golden Dome and the steeple of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Among the building’s hallmarks are the long curved corridors on each floor.
A major challenge in the project was adapting the midcentury design with the contemporary need for accessibility. “Stairs were a flourish at the time. There were different parts of the building where you would have three stairs here or six stairs there, and different layers of landings,” Gallagher says.
The five-level buff brick structure was designed by Edo Belli, a modernist architect based in Chicago. His firm, Belli & Belli, specialized in Catholic ecclesiastical architecture.
Since the day the seminary opened, visitors unable to climb stairs couldn’t reach Moreau’s front door. They had to enter through the back service entrance. During this renovation, that problem was solved with installation of two full-size elevators and concrete accessibility ramps next to the front stairs and at several spots inside.
The renovation and refreshed decor are true to Belli’s vision. Original mahogany woodwork remains on the lower levels. Some colorful vintage square ceramic tiles on the round pillars have suffered wear and damage, and are being replaced with matching tiles.
The original building included more than 200 single rooms, each with a bed, desk, wardrobe, sink and reading chair. Over the years, many of those spaces have been converted to modest two-room suites: a bedroom and adjacent sitting room.
Before the renovation, there were typically about 45 men living in Moreau: 25 or 30 men in formation to become priests or brothers, as well as staff members and some priests. In addition to staff, about 30 men in formation are expected to be in residence this fall.
The renovated building will have a new and longer name: Moreau Seminary and Scholasticate. In the Holy Cross tradition, a scholasticate is a building where religious brothers in training live and pursue their studies. Because Moreau has long served as a home for both seminarians and prospective religious brothers, the new name will encompass both groups, Gallagher says.
“In the last 15 years, we’ve had more young men discerning to be brothers. In the last seven years, we’ve had seven men profess final vows as brothers in Holy Cross,” he says.
The building is named for Rev. Basil Moreau, CSC, who founded the Holy Cross order in France in 1837. A new statue of Moreau will be placed on the front lawn.
The renovated building has about 40 rooms for men in formation on the second and third floors. “I didn’t want to build for what we have now. You’ve got to be optimistic, see the potential for growth,” Gallagher says.
The top floor has 41 guest rooms of varying sizes for residents’ friends and relatives when they visit for ordinations, commencement, football games and other events. Community lounges and a fourth-floor kitchen have been added for use by residents.
The chapel, with its striking 60-by-29-foot wall of stained glass, is virtually unchanged. The stained glass — depicting five angels enveloped in rays of flame and light — was designed by Rev. Anthony Lauck, CSC, ’42, a longtime Notre Dame professor of art who died in 2001. The windows were crafted at Conrad Schmitt Studios, in New Berlin, Wisconsin.
Improvements in the chapel involved refinishing the pews, cleaning brick walls, and updating the lighting and sound system. The organ is one that formerly served in the basilica. Six small side chapels, each with a distinctive altar, retain their original designs.
When Moreau reopens, residents will resume the long-standing tradition of Lucernarium — members of the campus community are welcomed to the seminary chapel at 8 p.m. each Thursday during the academic year for a candlelight prayer service.
The ground-floor library — beneath the chapel — had been so packed with bookshelves that much of the sunlight from the windows was blocked, Gallagher says. When the building reopens, about half of the books will be in storage nearby, with lower bookshelves allowing in more natural light.
The outdoor courtyard and cloister walk overlooking the lake are unchanged.
The building’s auditorium seated 200 people, but it was rarely filled. With the renovation, a classroom to seat 30 was created in the back of that space, leaving the auditorium with seating for about 100.
The gymnasium is being used temporarily for furniture and equipment storage. The gym for years was the location of Monk Hoops, late-night full-court pickup basketball games then-University President Rev. Edward A. “Monk” Malloy, CSC, ’63, ’67M.A., ’69M.A., played with students.
The gym will still be available for use by the building’s residents, as well as students from dorms on campus and local grade school teams. There is a separate designated gym entrance for non-residents.
The former locker room and showers have been removed and that space is being converted into an art room, music room and recording studio — “avocation” areas for residents, Gallagher says. Of the three racquetball courts, one will become a weight room and a second will be storage space for part of the library collection.
Some scenes from the 1993 film Rudy, about walk-on football player Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger ’76, were filmed in and near Moreau — including the scene of Rudy sitting on a bench near the lake with the Golden Dome in front of him when he opens a letter that says he has been accepted into Notre Dame as a transfer student.
Visitors sometimes arrive at the seminary asking to see that spot, Gallagher says, but the bench was moved to that location for the filming of the movie.
Previously only the chapel and library had central air conditioning, with some other rooms cooled by window units. With the upgrades, more rooms will have air conditioning, but not the entire building.
While Moreau is primarily for men in religious formation, it also serves as a gathering place for the congregation. “Having a big chapel and dining room allows us to have some of our larger gatherings as a local community there,” Gallagher says. Wakes and diaconate ordinations are held in the chapel, which is also a gathering spot for the Holy Cross community on major feast days.
The architectural firm for the renovation is Mackey Mitchell Architects, of St. Louis, Missouri. The firm has designed a half dozen Notre Dame student residence halls, including Grojean and Coyle Halls, currently under construction on South Quad.
Ground was broken for the new $3 million seminary in 1957, the first residents moved in in 1958 and the building was completed in 1959. There were nearly 150 seminarians living and studying there in fall 1959, the South Bend Tribune reported.
A May 1959 Scholastic article referred to the seminary as the “Moreau Hilton.” The seminarians’ rooms were described as “plain but comfortable, much like the rooms in some of the newest halls on campus.”
When Moreau opened, it featured what was likely the first living roof on campus. The rooftop included strips of green grass and a tiled patio that offered a panoramic view. “It would be interesting to learn what a stranger would think if he saw the caretaker taking his lawnmower up to the roof to cut the grass,” the Scholastic writer commented.
The grass roof apparently didn’t last long, as there were few later references to it in campus publications. The Scholastic review concluded: “P.S.: For those who wonder, NO swimming pool.”
Moreau has a black granite wall near the front door. Some of the granite was removed during renovation to provide for a larger main entrance, and the reclaimed stone will be crafted into pedestals for religious statues in the building.
Among Holy Cross priests, nearly every member of the province who has joined the order since 1958 has been a Moreau resident. The seminary looms large in the lives of those men.
“For many of us, it was our first home in the community. It had a big formative role in our lives,” Gallagher says. “And for many of our men who are missionaries, (Moreau) was the home they came back to when they returned to the States. It was their home base.”
The renovation involves upgrading a place that plays a central role in the lives of Holy Cross men. The goal is to update the physical facility to make it more welcoming and accessible. “But the goal also is to give Moreau what it needs to continue to play a role in our community for several more decades,” Gallagher says.
He makes a habit of reminding Moreau’s inhabitants of their responsibility related to the renovated landmark. Today’s residents are the caretakers, Gallagher says, of a place that will continue to serve as home to Holy Cross men in formation decades in the future.
Margaret Fosmoe is an associate editor of this magazine.