Page 4
Brother Paul Ambrose finagled to have Brother Nilus
Donnelly appointed to the college in 1952 to teach
physics. Brother Nilus had been charged with
construction of a gym for Central Catholic High
School in Lawrence, Mass. To get this done on a very
small budget, he hit on the idea of using as much
war surplus material as he could lay his hands on. He
rented a warehouse in Lawrence, hired a secretary,
and traveled around the USA to government
auctions. Using a ham radio, he communicated with
his secretary and had the purchased items shipped to
the warehouse. Here he hit on the idea of using poured concrete because it was
something unskilled labor could do with a minimum of skilled supervision. For several
summers he used vacationing Marist Brothers.
Coming to Poughkeepsie, Brother Nilus expected a rest
from his five year stressful construction activity, but
Brother Paul Ambrose had other ideas. He inveigled Nilus to
construct a free standing chapel for which Paul would raise
$100,000 plus an additional amount for the furnishings.
After agreeing, Nilus engaged the architect he had used in
Lawrence. Together, they designed a circular chapel with
the altar in the middle - the first such Roman Catholic
chapel in the United States. The construction would use
poured concrete and wooden trusses, materials requiring less expertise than bricks or
steel. When completed, the chapel won several awards for outstanding architecture. But
Brother Paul wasn't finished. During the dedication of the chapel, Cardinal Spellman,
who was deathly afraid of fire, insisted that the student brothers be moved to a place
which would not be the firetrap the Cardinal saw in the McPherson house. Until such
housing was complete, his Eminence insisted that some student brothers stay awake all
night to warn the others in case of fire.




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Project Directors
Dr. Brian Henry Desilets
Dr. Linus Richard Foy
John Patrick Noone
From the beginning, Marist Heritage has been a collaborative effort.
We appreciate the contributions of the Marist Brothers and the Marists All
community, who by supplying information and personal memories, have given vitality,
scope and depth to this project
Under the guidance and direction of Dr. Brian Henry Desilets, the initial web pages
were designed and created by the following Marist College students: Michele van
Brero (Hermitage, St. Peter's, Kieran Gate House, Greystone, Marist Brothers
Builders, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel) ..... Tage Haun (Bech Homestead, Marian,
Donnelly) ..... Fang Fang Xu (Boat House, Byrne House, Kirk House) ..... Courtney Gutt
(Bech Family History) ..... Vij lyer (Cemetery) ..... Rahkee Chopra (Fontaine Hall).
All the final Marist Heritage web pages were either created, revised, rewritten
and/or reshaped by John Patrick Noone, who is solely responsible for any errors
contained therein.
We thank Richard Branigan for proofreading the Marist Heritage web pages.
We recognize the contributions of our consultants: John Ansley for his input on the
format and contents of the various web pages. Also Victor VanCarpels for his
frequent consultations and guidance in the graphics included in this CD. His
patience and dedication while working with us made the overall results more
professional.
We are grateful to Barbara McMullen for the use of the Ecommerce facility at Marist
College.
We are indebted to the Mccann Foundation which provided the funds necessary to make
this project a reality.
John Patrick Noone, editor
November 15, 2002
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