Modernization at Dominican: An Ongoing Event

This is my photo essay slide show about modernization at Dominican University.


An ongoing event at Dominican University is the modernization of the campus. According to Senior Vice President for Business Administration Amy McCormack, Dominican has invested $100 million in modernizing the campus. The Lund Auditorium was part of a 1990 renovation to the Fine Arts building. McCormack stated that Dominican University has committed another $25 million to modernizations in the next five years.

Parmer Hall is home to Dominican University’s new science labs. Here an anatomical model of the human body is seen through a window to one of the new labs. According to Senior Vice President for Business Administration Amy McCormack, there are more labs on the way. These new labs include a neuroscience lab.

With the opening of Parmer Hall, students now have an additional place to gather. Juniors Vince Nardiello, Jason Dudek, Nikki Nardi-Milkulski and Marc Daher meet in Parmer Hall between classes. These students talk, eat and study for upcoming exams during their time in Parmer Hall. McCormack stated that Parmer’s growing popularity among students is a sign of the building’s success.

Many science classes are located in Parmer Hall. Because of this fact, many students like to hang out Dominican University’s newest building. This is why junior Jason Dudek meets there with his friends in between classes. “It is one place on campus that for the most part is quiet and for me is close by my science professors just in case I have questions for them,” Dudek said.

Some students still prefer the familiar surroundings of the older buildings and like to work in the Cyber Café. Junior Vince Nardiello is one of those students. “I like working there because I can get my work done because everything I need is right there, [whether] it’s a book, assistance, or food,” Nardiello said.

The older buildings on the Dominican University campus are connected through a series of basement tunnels. The tunnel pictured here leads from Lewis Hall into Power Hall. Power Hall, opened in 1922, is the oldest building on the Dominican Campus. Power Hall has had minor renovations done over the years, but there are no plans as of yet for anything major.

The Rebecca Crown Library and Lewis Hall, as seen from a third floor Parmer Hall window. Older buildings such as those have received minor renovations over the years. New this year in Lewis Hall is central air conditioning, new windows and new classroom furniture. These are examples of the minor modernizations that take place every year at Dominican University.

While modernizations large and small take place every year at Dominican University, some things remain unchanged. This ivy-covered stairwell window in the Fine Arts building has not been replaced, along with much of that building. According to McCormack, many of the smaller rooms in the Fine Arts building have been converted to office space instead of classrooms.

An event that took place recently at Dominican University was International Week. The flags of different nations are draped across the Rebecca Crown Library’s spiral staircase. The spiral staircase leads into the Cyber Café, which is one of the more modern parts of the campus and a popular student hangout.


This pathway between Lewis Hall, the Library and the Fine Arts building leads to Parmer Hall. Students walking along this pathway witness the ongoing modernizations taking place at Dominican University. This pathway will also lead students to an even more modernized campus in the future. According to McCormack, Dominican plans to commit about $1 million to modernizations each year. The modernization of Dominican University continues.