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August 29, 2011

Opening 50-year-old time capsules from Bonaventure and Lenihan halls, which were located where Siena now stands
More Video: President McGowan's remarks at the dedication ceremony
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Bellarmine University celebrated the completion of a five-year, $37.3 million project that has transformed it into a residential university, with 1,049 people -- roughly half of the undergraduate student body -- living on campus in the heart of Louisville's Highlands neighborhood.

AT A GLANCE Project phases: Siena Primo (2007) cost: $8.6 million square feet: 38,490 116 beds, small cafe Siena Secondo (2009) cost: $9.1 million square feet: 38,877 145 beds Siena Quarto (2010) cost: $8.1 million square feet: 38,086 129 beds Siena Terzo (2011) cost: $11.5 million square feet: 50,028 128 beds, new 200-seat dining hall, new outdoor green space (Arboreto) Other Bellarmine residence halls: Anniversary Hall (196 beds) Kennedy Hall (135 beds) Newman Hall (119 beds) Petrik Hall (146 beds) Bellarmine Dining Spaces: University Dining Hall (2010) -- 540 seats The Palio (2011; Siena Terzo) -- 200 seats Catie's Café (2007; Siena Primo) Café Ogle in Campus Center, featuring Pizza Hut, Wow Café & Wingery, Far East Fusion and Einstein Bros. Bagels Simply To Go, offering prepared sandwiches, salads and snacks in Pasteur Hall and the Bellarmine Office Building

The Siena Housing Project, completed in four phases, features modern living space for 518 students, a dining hall, a cafe, study space, places for meditation and prayer, a staff apartment, and Arboreto -- a new green space with a landscaped water feature, a small amphitheater and a fire pit.

Thanks to the growth made possible by the Siena residence halls, Bellarmine is a primarily residential university, according to the Carnegie Classification system.

The final phase of the development, Siena Terzo, was completed this month. The $11.5 million phase included 128 beds, the university's second dining hall and the Arboreto green space. Like previous phases -- Siena Primo, Siena Secondo and Siena Quarto -- the newly-completed residence hall's name pays tribute to the Italian heritage of the university's namesake, St. Robert Bellarmine.

"Over the past five years, we have invested more than $35 million in building new student housing, creating world-class living space for more than 500 additional students," said Dr. Joseph J. McGowan, Bellarmine's president. "The Siena project has beautifully transformed Bellarmine into a residential university attracting more and more of the best and brightest -- not only from Louisville and Kentucky but from across the nation and around the world. In this beautiful new campus setting, our students will make important connections with friends, faculty and professionals, and they will bond with Louisville. Our city and the whole region will benefit."

The Siena Housing Project is one component of Vision 2020, Bellarmine's broad vision for new schools, new majors, new buildings and new ways to serve Louisville and Kentucky. Vision 2020 calls for Bellarmine to become the premier independent Catholic university in the South, and thereby the leading private university in the commonwealth and region.

Like other recent Bellarmine construction, the Siena residence halls were designed with no obvious front or back, so that they would be attractive when viewed from any direction on campus.

The Palio, Bellarmine's second dining hall, is part of Siena Terzo and is named after a longtime horse race in the Italian city of Siena. An existing cafe in Siena Primo has been renamed Catie's Café in honor of St. Catherine of Siena.


Siena Terzo Residence Hall and The Palio dining hall (right).
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