Notre
Dame is breaking the barriers between the school and the rest of the community. They're making additions so the campus is
more inviting to the general public.
Crews
are already hard at work building a 300 seat ballroom at the Morris Inn. And the work won't stop there. University of Notre Dame Spokesperson, Dennis Brown, said, "the whole look of the building will be
completely different."
The
Hotel will be shut down for a year starting this fall to give the building a
more collegiate gothic look, to add over 40 guest rooms, and Brown said, "the rooms will be expanded themselves by about 120
square feet per room."
Executive
Director of Visit South Bend Mishawaka Rob DeCleene said this is like getting a
brand new hotel, "it's a 32 million dollar
project and that's the equivalent of a full service Marriott being built from
the ground up."
He's
excited that Notre Dame is making such an investment in the community. And the school is also investing in getting the
community on campus. "I think there's a little bit of a historical feeling
that there's an invisible wall along Angela and Edison and that people in the
community aren't welcome and we don't feel that way at all," said Brown.
That's
why this summer Brown said, "we plan to build a
new playground on the Irish Green near the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. And we also have the sculpture park we plan
to build south of the Hockey arena."
And
these new plans for the south side of campus will just add to what's already
there. "What's
nice is you've got the Compton Family ice rink, which appeals to a sports fan, DeBartolo
performing arts center, which appeals to another audience and the sculpture
garden can appeal to a whole other audience," said Rob DeCleene.
The
Playground and sculpture park should be finished by the time classes start in
August.
