Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh has kicked off the public phase of a $10 million fundraising campaign to complete the transformation of the Dominican Center, an adjacent property purchased in 2011.
The college”™s president, the Rev. Kevin E. Mackin, acknowledged that in today”™s economic climate any fundraising effort is a challenge.
“There is no good time,” he said, before adding with a laugh: “I”™m still playing the lottery, the Mega Millions.”
To be serious, though, Mackin said that the effort is finding an encouraging amount of support that hopefully will continue to grow.
“This is our flagship project, the transformation of this living and learning center,” he said.
Though the public phase of fundraising is new, “A Call to Excellence: The Campaign for the Dominican Center” is well under way.
Time was spent in consultations to determine, as Mackin said, the “best use of this 100,000 square feet,” and fundraising has been building.
“It”™s going forward,” Mackin said. “What we”™re really excited about is it”™s going to be a high-tech, state-of-the-art library, as well as a residence hall.”
More than $6.4 million was raised during a 14-month “quiet phase,” spearheaded by a $2.5 million donation from William Kaplan and his Kaplan Family Foundations. Other leadership gifts came from the Dyson Foundation, the Dominican Sisters of Hope, the college”™s board of trustees and alumni and other close friends of the college.
Now it”™s about getting the word out and keeping the momentum going as the five-story building is transformed into a destination that will serve not only the more than 2,500 students who attend the private, liberal arts college but also benefit the surrounding community.
“We want to always connect with the community, the lower Hudson River Valley community, as best we can,” Mackin said. He noted that comes through many ways, including the expanding curriculum, the sporting events on campus (a new baseball/softball field is part of the project) and the cultural activities, including hosting numerous performances of the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra.
“More and more, colleges have to be an integral part of the community,” he said.
The college, the only independent four-year college in Orange County, offers both bachelor”™s and master”™s degree programs that prepare students for careers in fields including health care, business, education, social services and communications and media.
The center, which includes a five-story building built in 1927 and 13.1 acres of land, was purchased from the Dominican Sisters in the summer of 2011. “It has always been in the background,” Mackin said. “It”™s contiguous to our own property. ”¦ When they moved out of it, we seized the opportunity.”
The sisters have relocated to Ossining.
Highland Associates has provided architectural and engineering design, while the project will be managed by Kirchhoff-Consigli Construction Management. The ball field should be completed by next spring, with the Dominican Center itself hoping to earn its certificate of occupancy in late 2013 and open in January 2014 for the spring semester.
“We”™re looking at it as an investment in the future of our students and in the workforce for the future,” Mackin said. “What we”™re trying to do is provide our students with the tools to be successful.”
But, Mackin added, what”™s learned in school goes beyond the classroom and encompasses the whole college experience.
“It”™s not only a question of acquiring those tools or skills you need,” he said. “We really try to train our students for life.”
And the Dominican Center”™s completion will simply be a part of Mount Saint Mary”™s continuing dedication to that goal, Mackin said.
“Our goal is really to have excellence in all of our programs so our students are prepared, the best we can, to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”
