Newman Center prepares for final Masses ahead of demolition

Leaders of the Newman Center at Southeast Missouri State University on Thursday vacated the building at 512 N. Pacific St. they have called home for 58 years to make way for demolition and the construction of a new center in its place.

The Newman Center is home to the Catholic Campus Ministry at Southeast and encompasses three buildings at the Pacific Street location: the Marquette Student Center, the Newman Center and the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel.

Before the buildings are razed, several events honoring the Newman Center’s first home will be held this weekend, including its final Masses, a ceremonial groundbreaking, an alumni barbecue and the center’s annual wine-tasting benefit.

The weekend kicks off at noon Saturday with the farewell barbecue for alumni, which will feature trivia and yard games, as well as select memorabilia for donations. The barbecue will last until 3 p.m. and will take place at 512 N. Pacific St.

A few hours later, the center’s annual wine-tasting event will take place at Deerfield Lodge, 6275 County Road 313 in Cape Girardeau. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the wine tasting will begin at 7 p.m. The event benefits the Newman Center’s missionary service activities and will feature hor d’oeuvres, live music, a silent auction, raffles and prizes.

Deacon Tom Schumer points to the Newman Center's interim location one block away at 902 College Hill Place during an interview Tuesday at the Newman Center in Cape Girardeau. The current building will soon be demolished to make way for construction of the St. John Henry Newman Center -- a new 18,000-square-foot facility on the Southeast Missouri State University campus, with construction estimated to be completed next year.BEN MATTHEWS

The weekend of events continues Sunday with three final Masses in the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel at 11:30 a.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bishop Edward M. Rice of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau will preside over the final 8 p.m. Mass.

On Sunday afternoon, the bishop will join Newman Center leaders, students, faculty and community members to host a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new center. The groundbreaking will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the front yard of the Newman Center.

The Newman Center will be temporarily housed at 902 College Hill Place, a stone’s throw from where construction on the new center will take place.

A new home

The Newman Center was formed at Southeast in 1914, when sisters Gertrude and Frances Chester sought to establish a club for Catholic students and faculty members, according to a Southeast Missourian article from 1986. Back then, it was known as the Newman Club, but today’s students know the house near the corner of Normal Avenue and Pacific Street as the Catholic Campus Ministry.

Today, there simply isn’t enough space to accommodate the number of students, faculty and community members who attend Masses and events at the Newman Center.

The Newman Center's interim location at 902 College Hill Place is seen Thursday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Deacon Tom Schumer, director of the Newman Center, said the ministry serves about 300 students each week. More than 100 students attend the ministry’s Bible studies, of which Schumer said there are about 20 small groups each week. In addition to those activities, the center also offers weekly social events, which he said typically draws between 20 and 40 students.

Construction on the new, 18,000-square-foot St. John Henry Newman Center is projected to be completed in the late spring 2021, Schumer said, and will house under one roof a new 7,000-square-foot worship space, two classrooms for what will become the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Studies, a multipurpose room with the capacity for about 150 people, a student lounge, and of course, a “nice kitchen.”

“One thing that’s true about every college student — you can win them through their stomach,” Schumer said with a laugh. “So we’ll have much better ability and capacity to do community meals and things of that nature.”

The only potential holdup that could delay construction, Schumer said, is the bidding process.

A rendering of the St. John Henry Newman Center, which is scheduled to open by late spring of 2021, shows the south side of the exterior.Courtesy of Deacon Tom Schumer

“If we get some surprise in the bidding process, maybe the process could be delayed,” Schumer said, “but we really don’t anticipate that.”

Schumer said the Newman Center has secured pledges in excess of $5.2 million for the new facility. Of that, he said they’ve got just more than $3 million in cash on hand.

“We’re not a parish and ... we depend fully on the generosity of the community and faithful people,” Schumer said. “We weren’t going to be allowed to begin our construction project until we had 100% of anticipated building cost pledged and 50% of anticipated building costs in hand in cash.”

Thanks to support from the community, Newman Center leaders were able to accomplish both of those financial goals in less than 10 months, Schumer said.

“It’s all by divine providence and the goodness of God’s people,” he said.

A rendering of the St. John Henry Newman Center, which is scheduled to open by late spring of 2021, shows the west side of the exterior.Courtesy of Deacon Tom Schumer

A definitive date for demolition has not been scheduled, as all three buildings will first need to have asbestos surveys completed, Schumer said. Demolition should take place by the end of the month, he said, but could bleed into April, depending on the findings of the surveys.

While the new facility is under construction, Sunday Mass times and locations will look a little different. The Catholic Campus Ministry’s 11:30 a.m. Mass will be held at Rose Theatre, 400 N. Pacific St. at Southeast, and its 6 p.m. Mass will be held at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 615 William St. in Cape Girardeau. The 8 p.m. Mass time will be temporarily discontinued, Schumer said.

Weekday Masses, at 5:15 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and noon Fridays, will be held next week in the chapel, and after spring break, will be held at 902 College Hill Place.

Asked whether the final Masses would be bittersweet for him, Schumer, who is in his seventh academic year as director, said, “Very much so.”

“In those seven years, I don’t know how many times I’ve gone to Mass in this little chapel, but it’s easily in the hundreds,” Schumer said. “To have participated in the most sacred event this side of heaven that many times in a particular space, it transcends sentimentality.”

For more information about the Catholic Campus Ministry, visit www.semocatholic.org.