Northwestern College

Northwestern College, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Northwestern College Page With Report (Website)

Historic Preservation Plan: A Plan for the Buildings and Landscape of Nazareth Hall (PDF) 50.4MB

Northwestern College is located on the site of a former preparatory seminary for boys and young men, known as Nazareth Hall. Built in the Lombardic Romanesque style of Northern Italy, Nazareth Hall was constructed to house most of the functions of the institution in one extremely large, multipart building. Northwestern College purchased the campus from the seminary in 1970, and thirty years later, the enrollment of the school has grown to over 2,600 students, with additional buildings constructed to accommodate the growing student population. The grant will allow the college to produce a comprehensive preservation plan for its historic buildings and landscapes to complement its campus master plan.

Northwestern College received a Getty grant in 2004 for $150,000 to support campus heritage planning.

Report Summary

Purpose: The core of the Northwestern College campus is Nazareth Hall, the site of a former preparatory seminary for boys and young men. Designed and built by Maginnis and Walsh in the Lombardic Romanesque style of northern Italy, Nazareth Hall was constructed in 1923 to house most of the functions of the institution in one large building comprising many parts. The campus was further enhanced by the landscape plans of the Minneapolis firm, Morell and Nichols. In 1970, Northwestern College purchased the seminary campus and since then has constructed additional buildings to accommodate the growing student population.

The grant allowed Northwestern College to produce a comprehensive preservation plan for its historic buildings and landscapes for integration into a campus master plan. The preservation plan describes the historic buildings and landscapes and identifies their character- defining features, discusses the changes that have occurred over time, assesses integrity and condition of these sites, and presents recommendations and strategies for preservation, renovation, and stabilization (including many that are not expensive to implement and do not require extensive intervention), while also considering planning for adaptive reuse.

Historic Designation(s): None.

Planning Process: The institution formed a team of specialists, including architectural historians, historians, architects, and landscape architects, assisted by Northwestern College administrators, staff, faculty, and alumni, and community representatives to develop this preservation plan. The college also created the Preservation of Campus Heritage Committee, which was expected to advise particular college committees and administrative entities of the institution, including the Board of Trustees.

Outcomes—Products: The “Northwestern College Historic Preservation Plan: A Plan for the Buildings and Landscape of Nazareth Hall” was the main outcome of the plan. During the course of the project, the college also discovered a variety of historic documents that were planned to become part of the college archives. An archaeological dig relating to the planned landscapes was also expected to be implemented as an educational component of the project.

Outcomes—Strategies and Goals for the Future: It is hoped that administrators and planners will reference the comprehensive historic preservation plan prepared as a result of the grant as they plan, manage, and care for the college’s historic buildings and landscapes. It is also hoped that the college will find opportunities to increase the physical integrity of these historic resources and to strengthen their value as institutional assets while simultaneously meeting other needs.

Outreach efforts after the completion of the grant were expected to include the history of the campus and preservation of historic buildings. Further planning was expected to seek internal and external funding for preservation projects, student research and coursework related to relevant preservation efforts, landscape rehabilitation efforts, and pursuing funding targeting special components in campus preservation (such as interior furnishing, lighting, landscape elements, and other components recommended in the completed preservation plan).