Blessing Recognizes the Workers Making the Sedgwick Project a Reality

The process of giving the first building on the Rockhurst University campus another life has already begun, but on Thursday University leaders gave those performing that work a blessing as they proceed in thier labor.

At the feet of Sedgwick Hall, first opened in 1914, workers gathered alongside University administrators and representatives of the architect, Helix+, and the construction company, J.E. Dunn. Marking the day, Mary Mooney Burns, vice president of advancement, acknowledged that the pandemic will color so much of what is remembered about this era.

“But we are also making our own history here today,” she said.

Sedgwick will become the home of the Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences at Rockhurst University once work wraps up as anticipated in late spring 2022. The $23 million project is made possible by donors and is part of the “For the Greater” campaign, will preserve approximately 90% of the original construction and will feature a glass façade on the east side (facing Kinerk Commons), a state-of-the-art simulation lab on the third floor, faculty offices and learning spaces.

The Rev. Thomas B. Curran, S.J., president of Rockhurst University, said before blessing those gathered in hard hats and fluorescent vests with holy water that the pioneering spirit of the Jesuits who first came to the corner of 52^nd Street and Troost Avenue with the vision of a school lives on in this new incarnation of Sedgwick Hall, where future generations of Jesuit-educated health care professionals will train.

“That is clearly consistent with who we are,” he said. “To read the signs of the times of this campus, read the signs of the times and the needs of this community.”

The blessing is an important milestone as the crews go forth making the transformation a reality, Fr. Curran said.

“A blessing is something you just don’t take and keep,” he said. “It’s something you receive and continue to give.”