City approves Newman’s expansion

The Newman Center will construct a convent at the northwest corner of Armory Avenue and Sixth Street. Regina Martinez

The Newman Center will construct a convent at the northwest corner of Armory Avenue and Sixth Street. Regina Martinez

By Tracy Culumber

A bill approving the construction of the St. John’s Catholic Newman Center convent at the northwest corner of Armory Avenue and Sixth Street in Champaign was passed unanimously by the Champaign City Council Sept. 20.

The city approved the final development plans for Phase I of an 8-step expansion of the Newman Foundation in exchange for improvements to the sidewalks around the property.

Rick Sansone, director of operations and facilities for the Center, who refers to the Newman expansion as his “baby,” said that even though the project has been approved by the City Council, Bishop Daniel Jenky has the final say on construction and what can be said about it.

Pending the Bishop’s approval, a convent will be constructed just north of the existing rectory and south of the Georgian, a privately owned apartment building located at 1005 S. Sixth St. The convent will be constructed to accommodate nuns and women considering entering the sisterhood.

The construction site shares the block with the Newman House, 505 E. Chalmers St.; the Alpha Phi sorority, 508 E. Armory Ave.; a University parking lot and the Georgian, which is leased by Barr Real Estate and owned by the Youngerman family of Champaign.

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“Everything we are doing at this point is in the silent phases,” Sansone said.

Monsignor Stuart Swetland, director and chaplain for the Center, said about 350 students live in Newman Hall, and a change to the building’s structure is necessary to accommodate them adequately.

“We have a huge waiting list of people to live here,” Swetland said. “Plus, we have a 75-year-old building we need to refurbish.”

Although Swetland could not comment on the exact amount that the Diocese of Peoria has budgeted towards the expansion, he said a decision would be made within the next six months, at which time the Center would make all the details public.

Champaign Councilman Michael La Due, who is a tenant of the Georgian, was the only council member to comment on the construction at the Sept. council meeting. He expressed concern about how the changes to the streetscape would affect surrounding property. He added that he did not know if the convent construction would have an impact on his building because the Newman Center has been hesitant to share information about the construction with anyone.

“The Newman Foundation has been holding ‘secret negotiations’ with the University,” La Due said. “They have said nothing about this to their neighbors.”

The Georgian gained public attention in Feb. after the University made plans to purchase and demolish the apartment building to build a parking deck on the property under the eminent domain laws.

La Due said the negotiating parties are close to a resolution to the issue, and he thinks the Georgian will not be destroyed.

On Sept. 15, the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council nominated both the Georgian and the Alpha Phi sorority to the National Register of Historic Places. Acceptance into the register does not guarantee legal protection or entitlement to be maintained.

Sansone said that the Newman Foundation was not involved in these proceedings, but that they are supportive of both.

“We’ve been as good a neighbor and neutral as we can possibly be,” Sansone said.

Sansone said the entire project would include 31 months worth of construction phases and predicted that the convent would be complete by the 2008 school year.