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Donnelly Hall
Donnelly Hall was built by Brother Nilus Vincent with the help of an
army of volunteer Marist Brothers. For three summers, these Marist
Brothers laid aside their teaching duties and traveled to the Marist
College campus where they worked, slept and worked some more.
Brother Nilus who designed and supervised the construction of
Donnelly personally operated the bulldozer, crane and other heavy
construction equipment. His first task was to survey the property
and then to level the mound of earth that existed where Donnelly
now stands. Donnelly Hall is named for Brother Nilus Vincent
Donnelly.
After the blessing of the site by Cardinal Spellman in 1958, the
Marist Brothers manually dug the holes for the foundation pillars.
They had to overcome many obstacles, one of which was the water
seepage from an underground stream into the foundation holes.
This water had to be pumped out and directed away from the work
site. Brother Nilus' foreman, Brother Edward "Eddie Mike" Michael
seemed to be everywhere directing the day's work activities.
Each day a discarded hearse was used to transport refreshments to
the thirsty working brothers. A cluster of nearby trees provided
them with a rest break during the hot, humid, summer days.
Slowly the foundation and concrete walls were poured. The
prefabricated wooden roof beams weighing several tons each were
lifted into place by Brother Nilus' crane and secured by the
brothers. Donnelly began to take shape.
*Click on any image to enlarge*
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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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