St. Thomas seeks demolition OK – Finance and Commerce

Backers of a planned $100 million STEAM building on the University of St. Thomas St. Paul campus hope to get the green light this month to demolish one of the schools oldest buildings to make way for the project.

The proposed demolition of Loras Hall, a 126-year-old Cass Gilbert-designed brick building nestled between Cretin Avenue and the River Road, is up for review at the St. Paul Heritage Preservation Commissions Dec. 14 meeting. The commission needs to sign off on a demolition permit because Loras Hall is part of a historic district.

Mark Vangsgard, vice president for business affairs and CFO for the University of St. Thomas, said the commission could approve or deny a permit or ask for more information. If the project moves forward, it would go before the HPC again at some point for design approval, he said.

Pending approvals, the University of St. Thomas plans to break ground in spring 2022 on the 120,000-square STEAM building, which would be a hub for studies in science, technology, engineering, arts and math. The building would open in fall 2024.

Earlier this fall, members of the Heritage Preservation Commission pushed back on the universitys demolition plans, and urged the school to consider other project locations that would allow Loras Hall to remain standing.

In a seven-page public comment, St. Paul resident Marc Manderscheid said the building should be preserved because of its connection to Cass Gilbert, its contribution to the historic district, and its Renaissance Revival architectural style.

North Dormitory [Loras Hall] is a community treasure, to be cherished, which is why you should deny the requested demolition permit, Manderscheid wrote.

In a September 2020 letter to Heritage Preservation Commissioner George Gause, Vangsgard said the universitys site selection process involved exhaustive research and study over the past three years.

The university strongly believes the highest-value site for the STEAM project is along the south side of Summit Avenue between OShaughnessy Science Hall and the St. Paul Seminary. This would require Loras Hall to be removed, Vangsgard wrote.

St. Thomas, which acquired Loras Hall in 1982 from St. Paul Seminary, previously used the building as a dormitory. More recently, the building has housed faculty offices, music practice rooms, a credit union and storage space.

St. Thomas is working with BWBR Architects and McGough Construction on the building plans. The project would include a utility plant to provide energy-efficient heating and cooling for multiple buildings, according to the university.

The university estimates it would cost about $10 million to rehab or repurpose Loras Hall and even then, the buildings construction and configuration would limit how it could be used, according to HPC documents.

Vangsgard said in an interview that theres a great need for STEAM building space as more students pursue science and engineering degrees. At present, about 22% of the schools undergraduates are in that category, up from 5% in 1995, he said.

Thats putting a strain on building capacity. Based on a 2018 study, the university says it needs more than 190,000 gross square feet of STEAM space. Vangsgard wrote that the university would have to reduce the building size to 100,000 square feet if Loras needs to be retained.

Vangsgard added that St. Thomas has an urban campus with very limited sites available for building. In this case, the new building would need to be connected to existing engineering and science facilities.

That narrows down, if you will, where it can go, he said.

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St. Thomas seeks demolition OK - Finance and Commerce