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Ursuline Sisters, public behold ‘glorious’ unveiling
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The $1.7 million reconfiguration of the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown’s Motherhouse includes common areas that will be used for socialization and relaxation once the area is completed. Architects came up with a plan in which two sections of the floor were removed from the second floor, opening up a two-story atrium that allows light to shine down into the lower level.
By Bob Jackson
CANFIELD
When Sister Nancy Dawson gushed that Sunday was glorious, she wasn’t talking about the warm, sunny weather conditions that existed outside.
She was talking about the public unveiling of new living quarters for the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown at the sisters’ Motherhouse on Shields Road. The $1.7 million project, which reconfigured space in the Motherhouse, began nearly a year ago and is expected to be completed within about two weeks, Sister Nancy said.
“This is just a glorious day for the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown,” Dawson said.
In the past, the nuns who live at the Motherhouse were quartered in cramped bedrooms and had to share common bathrooms. Now, each of the 24 nuns will have her own apartment-style dwelling, each of which includes a living room, bedroom and a private bathroom. The rooms are all on one side of the house and should be ready for the nuns to move into in about two weeks.
The two-story living area includes shared kitchen areas on each floor, where the sisters can make coffee or a light breakfast. There are no stoves because the sisters eat their meals in a common dining area.
Space on the opposite side of the Motherhouse, where the sisters have been living during the reconfiguration project, now will be used for the sisters’ many community ministry projects.
“Our goal is to make the resources of the Ursuline Sisters available to the people we serve,” Dawson said. “We want to share our resources in whatever way we can.”
The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown have served the Mahoning Valley since 1874. Their ministries include Ursuline High School, Youngstown Community School and Millcreek Children’s Center, Ursuline Preschool and Kindergarten, an HIV/AIDS ministry, Beatitude House for homeless women and their children, and Potter’s Wheel, which helps disadvantaged women succeed through educational and employment assistance.
Sister Mary McCormick said upgrading the living quarters at the Motherhouse, which is some 50 years old, was an opportunity to also update the building’s electrical, plumbing and heating/ventilation systems.
“It’s so nice and new and clean,” said Sister Eleanor Santangelo. “And it’s so bright. I love that.”
Paul J. Ricciuti, a consultant with BSHM Architects of Youngstown, said the firm wanted to find a way to brighten the first floor of the living quarters.
“There was no light in the corridors on the first floor,” he said. “They were very, very dark and dingy.”
So architects came up with a plan in which two sections of the floor were removed from the second floor, opening up a two-story atrium that allows light to splash down into the lower level.
The project cost about $1.7 million, which was funded by the Ursuline Sisters with help from supporters.
A second project phase is expected to begin in May and will include construction of 12 independent- living apartments for senior citizens of moderate income, at a cost of about $1.2 million. McCormick said a Property and Advisory Committee, made up of local leaders, had identified a need for that type of housing in the Canfield area. The second phase should be completed sometime in mid-2013.
“People are looking for a safe, affordable place to live, and we want to help them meet that need,” McCormick said.