Groundbreaking for New Public Square

Molloy College breaks ground on student center

September 30, 2009 By OLIVIA WINSLOW olivia.winslow@newsday.com

Molloy College broke ground Wednesday on a $28.6-million, 57,000-square-foot student center, the first major construction on campus since 1992.

The Public Square, which will contain classrooms, meeting spaces and a 550-seat theater and art gallery, would provide the Rockville Centre campus with a gathering space for students and faculty the college currently lacks. It will be, President Drew Bogner said, a center of campus life, the "hub around which all will revolve."

The facility is to be completed by spring 2011. The college also plans to build its first residence hall, for 150 students. Officials anticipate it will be completed by the fall of that year.

The projects are estimated to cost about $50 million combined, including site improvements across the 27-acre campus, said college spokesman Ken Young. The college recently concluded its most successful fundraising campaign, netting more than $20 million, which will help finance construction, along with bonding, officials said.

"We are here today to celebrate what is a beginning," Bogner told about 250 people including students, faculty, administrators, alumni, Bishop William Murphy (the college was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville but is independent today) and elected officials, at the gathering on a blustery afternoon.

Bogner said The Public Square and other projects will transform the campus. Apart from providing a meeting place for the college community, the center will be a place to engage the public at large over important issues of the day.

"This long awaited building will play an important role for the external community as well," Bogner said. "We are calling it the Public Square for a reason. Through conferences, meetings and seminars, community members will come to Molloy to engage in civil discussions regarding the important issues that affect all of us. "

The crowd cheered as Bogner, college trustees and other dignitaries donned hard hats and wielded golden shovels to symbolize the groundbreaking.

Kathy McGuire of Huntington, a 1983 graduate who is president of the college alumni association, said the Public Square would provide more space, leading to expansion of activities for students who will have the opportunity to spend more time on campus, gaining a "deeper college experience."

Her daughter, Jessica, 20, who transferred to Molloy from Ohio State recently, said she was excited. "It's a big step," she said, noting Molloy is a commuter school, where many students often go home after class.

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