The beautiful design of the Madonna University Welcome Center and Felician Sisters of North America Archives and Heritage Center is inspired and enticing in the way it blends the past, present, and future and serves as a University resource for important work. The success of this campaign for the Welcome Center will result in a myriad of uses and benefits to a growing and enduring University.
The north wing of the Welcome Center will include a 3,000-square-foot, multi-purpose event space. The Great Room event space is appropriate for up to 400 guests, and will facilitate a wide range of University and community events.
The south wing of the Welcome Center and Felician Sisters Heritage Center will be packed with programming space, and the ground floor will house a 2,000-square-foot art gallery. The Art Gallery will serve a plethora of University and external community uses, including University art exhibits and traveling community art exhibits, as well as concurrent uses for University admissions and advancement gatherings and small-group meetings.
The main lobby on the first floor and the lobby outside the admissions and advancement suites on the second floor, provide a comfortable place to gather. In addition to the naming opportunities to recognize major donors for various spaces throughout the Welcome Center, the first-floor lobby offers space for digital recognition of benefactors at all levels of giving.
The University has always recognized the importance of maintaining its unique history, but recently converted its former Founders Room, located in the University Center, into a dance studio to make room for new and emerging programs. The Welcome Center enables University administrators to conceive a new design and use for a Founders Room. Located on the top floor of the south wing, in between admissions and University advancement, the Founders room will display artifacts and history of the University’s growth and unyielding commitment to its founding mission and guiding Franciscan values. The Founders Room will host board committee meetings, the University Cabinet, donors and prospective students, and will be packed with technology to accommodate multi-media presentations and video conferencing with constituents from across the country.
The lowest floor of the south wing of the Welcome Center will house the Felician archives. This 3,800-square-foot space will be equipped with special environmental controls suitable for the optimal storage and maintenance of historical papers and artifacts, protecting the Felician Sisters' history for future generations. The proximity of the University’s Advancement and Admissions Departments to the Felician archives will ensure the active and continuous integration of our founding Felician values for future students.
The 4,150-square-feet of the top floor of the south wing of the Welcome Center will
house Madonna’s admissions and advancement departments. The location of these two
externally-focused University functions in the Welcome Center will place them with
ready and easy access to Madonna’s external constituents. The admissions team will
have access to the multi-use hosting space for prospective students and their families.
The advancement team will make frequent use of the multiple hosting venues of the
Center to enrich relationships with donors, alumni groups , and community volunteers
and patrons.
Sustaining robust University enrollment and private philanthropic support are essential
to all those the University serves. Making these essential functions more efficient
and effective will aid the success of all that University leaders hope to accomplish.
A primary concept behind the spatial organization of these offices is the introduction
of hybrid work spaces. Neither closed nor open offices provide the most flexibility
in use today and tomorrow. By combining private offices, cubicle banks and open floor
plans, as well as communal areas and sound-proof rooms, we optimize communication,
teamwork, and productivity.
Another concept behind the spatial organization is the utility of shared spaces. For
example, the Founders Room, situated in between admissions and advancement, will be
used to educate prospective students and donors about our Felician foundresses and
the history of Madonna University.
The column-lined halls, like cloister arcades in Assisi, will run along the north and south walls of the Archives and Heritage Center where visitors will experience the everlasting light from the five tenets of the Felician charism. Historically, the arcade served as a conduit of transportation, and so too will they provide a pathway for students and visitors to the Welcome Center. Bathed in the light from the lightweight roof, the arcades offer a welcome place for contemplation, and the cross-walks are symbolic of Christ's crucifix.
Private Offices — $15,000 each
2 Conference Rooms — $10,000 each
8 Garden Trees — $5,000 each
6 Benches — $3,000 each
Elevator — $2,000
