ST. LOUIS — Saint Louis University is a step closer to raising the funding for a new $16 million residential facility for Jesuit priests now under construction on SLU’s north campus.
SLU was awarded a $2 million challenge grant by the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation toward construction of the Jesuit Center. The university to date has raised $8.5 million of the estimated $16 million cost to build the Jesuit Center, and the Mabee Foundation’s grant is contingent upon SLU raising $5.5 million to complete the project, officials said Tuesday.
Nearly 30 Jesuit priests and brothers live, teach and minister at SLU, according to its website. The university collaborated with its Jesuit community and leadership of the Roman Catholic order’s Jesuit Central and Southern Province on the new Jesuit Center.
Plans for the new center were announced in January. The Jesuits’ new residence will be located on the north side of Laclede Avenue at 3751 Laclede Ave., just west of Spring Avenue. The Jesuit Center will house 20 bedrooms for the priests and five for guests, as well as a chapel, dining space and meeting rooms.
Work on the new Jesuit Center began in early April and will take 18 to 20 months to complete, officials said. HKW Architects designed the facility, and BSI Constructors Inc. is the project’s general contractor.
SLU’s Jesuit Hall, at 3601 Lindell Blvd. in Grand Center, is over 100 years old and houses about 80 priests who either work on campus or who are retired.
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