Most recently, Marianist Hall housed the CJ chapel, plus administrative offices and conference space, all of which were relocated to either the main school building or to Founders Center this past fall, said Tina Wagoner, spokeswoman for the school.
CJ paid $710,000 for what is now Founders Center, located at 300 S. Perry St., in 2021. The building was formerly known as Taj Ma Garaj.
The CJ chapel, the administrative offices and St. Joseph conference room are now in the main building. Alumni offices are now in Founders Center, along with other archives.
An audit on the building in 2012 showed Marianist Hall was not eligible for many of the upgrades it would need, and it was set to be eventually demolished, according to the school.
The school’s 2019 campus master plan said demolition of the hall would allow Emmanuel Church across the street to become a visual focal point of campus, “illustrating the Catholic identity of the school.”
Marianist Hall was first built to house Marianist brothers, a Catholic congregation of priests, who were serving as teachers and administrators for the school.
This is the latest of several facilities efforts at CJ in the last decade. In 2013, CJ began building a new STEMM center. CJ raised $20 million in 2014 to remodel the cafeteria, auditorium, lacrosse and soccer fields and HVAC systems, among other improvements.
The school turned a former Eaker Street warehouse into the Skelton Family Community Center, with athletic training space, and it opened Roger Glass Stadium in 2016.
CJ said in a press release when the school bought Founders Center that the building would help them with future growth on the campus. Founders Center has more than 20,000 square feet and was bought with the intention of using it for a gathering space, office space, another cafeteria and more classrooms.
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