The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Saint Clare Hall

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Saint Clare Hall (exterior), Lourdes College

Saint Clare Hall (bell tower), Lourdes College

Saint Clare Hall (mosaic), Lourdes College

Institution Name: Lourdes College
Original/Historic Place Name: Provincialate High School (original), St. Clare Academy (1930)
Location on Campus: 6832 Convent Blvd.
Date(s) of Construction:

1929-1930	original construction Holtzman, Wilfred D. Holtzman, Wilfred D., Jr.
1989	elevator extension

Designer: Wilfred D. Holtzman; Wilfred D. Holtzman, Jr.
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Mission/Mission revival (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, culture, education, history, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: concrete pilings

Walls: light brick exterior with embedded ornamental tile and enameled murals; textured plaster interior with embedded tile

Roof: terracotta tile with natural fire flashed brown

Function:

ca. 1929	private residence (for Sisters of St. Francis)
ca. 1929	administration (Sisters of St. Francis and Provincialate High School)
pre- 1973	classrooms (Provincialate High School; extension of The College of St. Teresa in MN; Lourdes Junior College)
ca. 1973-present (2006)	classrooms (Lourdes College)
ca. 2004-present (2006)	other (offices)

Narrative:
St. Clare Hall is the first permanent building added to the farmland turned campus. It is paradigmatic of California Mission Style architecture: irregularly laid light brick, bell towers, a turret, arches, a cloister walk, terracotta tiled roof, external mosaics, wrought iron fixtures, cypress wood doors, and concrete ceilings designed to resemble wooden rafters.

The external and interior placement of art works creates an atmosphere that invites the learner to an appreciation of diverse artistic styles. Copies of Western European artworks purchased by the college founder include prints of Piranesi etchings that grace the corridor. The elevator extension boasts an original external stoneware ceramic of St. Clare designed and executed by community artist and college instructor Sister Jane Mary Sorosiak, an interior mural by student intern Svetlana Cholvadova and Sister Jane Mary, a Gabriel Loire window from Chartres, France, and window etchings by Sister Sharon Havelak, former Chairperson of the Art Department. In 1991, architects from SSOE, Inc. and Mason Contractor, S. A. Storer and Sons Co. received an award for excellence in Masonry Design from the Masonry Institute of Northwestern Ohio, A.I.A. Toledo Chapter, for their work on the building.

References:

Klewicki, Mary Dunstan. Ventures For The Lord: The History of the Sylvania Franciscans. Sylvania, OH: Sisters of St. Francis, 1990.

Lesiak, Michaeline. Art Catalogue: Narrative in the Duns Scotus Library. Sylvania, OH: Sisters of St. Francis, 1986.

Warpeha, M. Justinian. Of Evergreens Rooted In Yellow Sand, a Profile of Venerable Mother M. Adelaide, Foundress of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio. Sylvania, OH: Sisters of St. Francis, 1967.