Marist College History: Marist Brothers as Builders 5
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Brother Nilus and his architect friend designed and constructed a graceful building
housing study and dining facilities for the student brothers on the site of the present
Cannavino Library. The work was done by teaching brothers on their vacation time and
by student brothers during the school year. The semester was lengthened from fifteen
to sixteen weeks, and every week there were about a dozen students available for
construction work. During this time, Nilus became suspicious of some of the working
drawings being sent from Lawrence. So he went to New York City to find a mechanical
engineer to review them. He looked in the phone book, and called Arbak A. Abdalian as
he was the first name listed. An Armenian, Abdalian was stunned to find calluses when
he shook hands with this person in a Roman collar and became a devotee of the
college. (It turned out that the Lawrence architect was dying of a brain tumor, but his
wife wanted to hide this fact from his clients.) This project was completed in 1956.
Abdalian also did the engineering for the Donnelly, Leo, and Champagnat buildings.
There were still no sleeping quarters for the brothers, so Nilus turned to a faster
method of construction: steel. An inelegant cube was constructed next to the above
study and dining building and went up within months in 1957. This became the student
brothers' dormitory until the construction of Benoit and Gregory houses, when the
entire complex became the college library.
Almost as an afterthought, the crews built a 40' x 80' building called the Adrian
Building, which served as a reception room and lay student lounge. Initially it included a
small residence and office suite for Brother Nilus, as well as a high fidelity lounge and a
small kitchen area. By 1965, it became the computer center, business and registrar
offices; later it served as the college advancement office and the Marist Institute for
Public Opinion.
At the dedication of the student housing complex in 1957, Cardinal Spellman blessed
the site of the future Donnelly building which was the last major project to be
constructed using brothers' labor. The construction, which took five years, emanated
from Brother Paul Ambrose's dream of opening the college to lay students in the
Hudson Valley.
The do-it-yourself era phased out when the college applied for government and bank
funding for future building, the first of which were the Sheehan and Leo dormitories.
Brother Nilus continued to supervise the construction, and did much of the site work for
the bulwark at the boathouse, Leonidoff field, water lines, parking lots. His bulldozer,
crane and backhoe were common sights on campus. By the mid 1970's, the era had
ended.
By Richard Foy, August 22, 2001
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https://dev.lb.marist.edu/archives/MHP/maristbrothersbuilders/page5.html
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Page 5
Brother Nilus and his architect friend designed and constructed a graceful building
housing study and dining facilities for the student brothers on the site of the present
Cannavino Library. The work was done by teaching brothers on their vacation time and
by student brothers during the school year. The semester was lengthened from fifteen
to sixteen weeks, and every week there were about a dozen students available for
construction work. During this time, Nilus became suspicious of some of the working
drawings being sent from Lawrence. So he went to New York City to find a mechanical
engineer to review them. He looked in the phone book, and called Arbak A. Abdalian as
he was the first name listed. An Armenian, Abdalian was stunned to find calluses when
he shook hands with this person in a Roman collar and became a devotee of the
college. (It turned out that the Lawrence architect was dying of a brain tumor, but his
wife wanted to hide this fact from his clients.) This project was completed in 1956.
Abdalian also did the engineering for the Donnelly, Leo, and Champagnat buildings.
There were still no sleeping quarters for the brothers, so Nilus turned to a faster
method of construction: steel. An inelegant cube was constructed next to the above
study and dining building and went up within months in 1957. This became the student
brothers' dormitory until the construction of Benoit and Gregory houses, when the
entire complex became the college library.
Almost as an afterthought, the crews built a 40' x 80' building called the Adrian
Building, which served as a reception room and lay student lounge. Initially it included a
small residence and office suite for Brother Nilus, as well as a high fidelity lounge and a
small kitchen area. By 1965, it became the computer center, business and registrar
offices; later it served as the college advancement office and the Marist Institute for
Public Opinion.
At the dedication of the student housing complex in 1957, Cardinal Spellman blessed
the site of the future Donnelly building which was the last major project to be
constructed using brothers' labor. The construction, which took five years, emanated
from Brother Paul Ambrose's dream of opening the college to lay students in the
Hudson Valley.
The do-it-yourself era phased out when the college applied for government and bank
funding for future building, the first of which were the Sheehan and Leo dormitories.
Brother Nilus continued to supervise the construction, and did much of the site work for
the bulwark at the boathouse, Leonidoff field, water lines, parking lots. His bulldozer,
crane and backhoe were common sights on campus. By the mid 1970's, the era had
ended.
By Richard Foy, August 22, 2001
Home
|
Marist College
|
Library Home Page
9/8/21, 12:30 PM
Page Five
https://dev.lb.marist.edu/archives/MHP/maristbrothersbuilders/page5.html
2/2
last updated on June 10, 2004