The Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West is expanding its campus in Mount Washington.

On Sunday, October 13, 2019, at 2 p.m., Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis M. Schnurr will dedicate and bless Fenwick Hall. This $12 million building project has been under construction for two years, it’s the first new building at the seminary since 1959. The dedication is by invitation only.

In the past 10 years, enrollment at the seminary has experienced remarkable growth. In 2010, there were 37 men enrolled and this fall semester there are 90 seminarians from seven dioceses and several religious orders.

Fenwick Hall will add 30 individual residential suites for seminarians and visiting guests and two additional meeting and classrooms. Due to demand, the seminary is one of the only in the country to be building residence halls at this current time.

In addition to housing more seminarians, this new facility will also provide an ideal space for hosting ongoing or secondary formation throughout the summer months.

“This is truly a historical project in the history of the seminary,” said Fr. Anthony Brausch, Athenaeum President and Rector. “Along with every parish in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, we have prayed for an increase in vocations. We’re excited to see what the Lord does with this.”

Fenwick Hall was named for the first bishop of Cincinnati and calling to mind the first building constructed on the Mount Washington campus in 1890, also called Fenwick Hall. The facade of the new structure blends perfectly with the existing architecture of the Athenaeum’s main building. The Northern Italianate Lombardy style is both respected and integrated into the new construction in materials and design. It provides symmetry to the overall layout of the facility that wasn’t there before.

The Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West worked with Turner Construction Company and Watson Architects on this project.

About The Athenaeum
The Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West is a school of theology and ministerial formation responsible for educating and forming the Church’s future priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers. It is an institution committed to being a regional resource and catalyst for the promotion and revitalization of Catholic life in all its dimensions.