History and Lore |
The Danna Center was dedicated on December 6, 1964. It is named after Loyola benefactor Dr. Joseph A. Danna, a faculty member of the early Post Graduate School of Medicine who headed a Loyola medical unit in World War I. His gift was approximately $900,000 with total construction costs of $2.5million.
Loyola legend has it that in the 1960’s the Jesuits desired to move the institution from our uptown location to lake-front property in Kenner. While designing both the Danna Center and Monroe Hall, the architects were asked to create buildings that looked as if they belonged by Lake Pontchartrain. Therefore, Monroe was designed to look like a docked cruise ship, with a shape that mirrored decks with small ovular windows.
The Danna Center was designed as an all-glass building that overlooked the lake, and the steel “cheese graters” were then added to shade the sun's reflection for people inside the building. Obviously, the Jesuits changed their mind and decided to keep Loyola in Uptown New Orleans, but the buildings were already designed and construction commenced.
Heavily influenced by the Bauhaus, the Danna Center was designed as a glass cube – a quintessential characteristic of the Modern architectural design movement that used glass for the façade, steel for exterior support, and concrete floors and interior support. Floor plans were functional and logical. For more information about Modern architecture see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_architecture.
Renovation Studies Begin |
Summer 2006
Dr. Cissy Petty, Vice President for Student Affairs and Associate Provost, created the momentum and provided leadership for the current renovation. Within the first six months of her time at Loyola, she secured the assistance of MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni architectural firm (MCF) http://www.mcfarchitects.com, under the direction of MCF president Albert Filoni and principal architect Alan Hohlfelder, to assess if a building renovation was realistic.
November – December 2006
Steering Committee was established to provide oversight and guidance:
- Cissy Petty Vice President for Student Affairs and Associate Provost
- Chris Cameron Director, Co-Curricular Programs
- Lisa Martin Interim Director Office of Intercultural Understanding, HUNS
- Roger White College of Social Sciences
- Kurt Bindewald Dean, University Ministry
- Deborah Poole Library Faculty
- Peter Burns College of Social Sciences
- LeeAnn Moss Freshman
- Brian Dirden Freshman
- Jennifer Alvarez Sophomore
- Braxton Bernard Sophomore
- Laura Fluke Junior
- Sheree Tarver Junior
- Daniel Green Senior
- Stephanie Hilferty Senior
- MCF conducts interviews with President and other key stakeholders.
- MCF conducts survey of Loyola community
February 2007
MCF presents survey results to the Student Affairs subcommittee of the Board.
May 2007
MCF reports to joint Student Affairs and Building and Grounds subcommittees of the board. [Insert “MCF 05-25-07 presentation”---I’ll need to send to a gmail account b/c it’s too large for LUservers]
Board member Alton F. Doody spearheaded the effort to rouse the Board of Trustees into action. His passion and entrepreneurial spirit brightly shined through with the campaign: “Tulane spent $44 million on the construction of the new Lavin-Bernick Center. For 1/10 the cost, Loyola can achieve 80% of the return, with a look that not only rivals but outdoes Tulane.”
At the same time, former Board member Henry Munoz, who is developing the campus master plan, volunteered his services for the project at no cost to the university. Henry Munoz is a Loyola alum, award-winning architect, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kell-Munoz, the largest minority-owned architectural firm in Texas. http://www.kellmunoz.com/
The Board voted to release $2M to the project. This is combined with $1M pledge from Sodexho, the Loyola University food service provider, to create a total budget of $3M.
Current Vision & Scope |
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Henry Munoz capitalized on much of the previous MCF work and infused it with his own unique vision. Munoz's desire was to let the building be what it was meant to be – modern.
Munoz felt that a student center should reflect the diversity of the Loyola community. The priorities are to:
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To create and activate warm, welcoming, inclusive public spaces
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To offer the best dining services in the nation
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To provide attractive meeting rooms conducive to students’ needs
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To allow for student organization office areas which promote interaction and collaboration.
Description |
Status |
PDF page |
Cheese grater removed |
Completed August 2007 |
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Exterior painted |
Completed August 2007 |
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Window film installed |
Completed November 2007 |
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Graphic widow film installed on second floor overlooking the courtyard and Audubon room |
TBD |
p. 6-7 |
Sun shade installed on Res Quad side, using recycled parts of cheese grater. |
TBD |
p. 5-6 |
New landscaping and furniture in courtyard |
TBD |
p. 5, 9 |
New mosaic tile installed |
In progress |
p. 3-4 |
New ceramic tile to replace slate tile on front porch and courtyard |
TBD |
p. 3-4 |
Top Floor
Audubon Room – paint, carpet, furniture |
TBD |
p. 21-22 |
Octavia meeting rooms – paint, carpet, furniture |
TBD |
p. 21-22 |
Hallway – paint, carpet, furniture |
TBD |
p. 21- 22 |
Senior Common Room – create faculty/staff dining area. Paint ceiling, new floor plan, new catering equipment |
Begin December 2007. Open January 2008. |
New photo |
Main Level
Orleans Room – complete renovation of serving and seating area: new food stations, menus, carpet, furniture, paint. OR will become all-you-can-eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. |
Begin summer 2008. Open August 2008 |
p. 19 |
CC’s coffee concept to be installed in the OR lounge |
Begin February 2008. Open April 2008 |
Note: this is the preliminary conceptual design, not the final. |
OR lounge - new carpet, paint, furniture (mixture of booths, café tables, and sofas), new flat screen TV’s installed |
TBD |
p. 17-18, 20 |
Main hallway –new booth spaces, bulletin boards. |
TBD |
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St. Charles Room: new carpet, paint, furniture, chandeliers, acoustic tile |
Begin December 2007. Open January 2008 with 100% completion March 2008. |
p. 15-16 |
Claiborne Rooms – remove breakaway wall, paint, carpet |
Begin December 2007. Open March 2008. |
p. 15-16 |
C-store – gut all existing locations and install new “Whole Foods” concept |
Begin summer 2008. Open August 2008. |
Loyola Food Mart p. 14 |
Relocate ATM’s to across from men’s room, all in a row |
TBD |
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Information Center & Office of Intercultural Understanding |
TBD |
Please note the information on the PDF was from October. Based on student feedback, the final location of the Information Center and Office of Intercultural Understanding is TBD. |
Lower Level
Underground – new carpet, paint, furniture, light fixtures. Install half-round performance stage where Seattle’s Best is. Install new high-end deli where Sandella’s is. Move gaming equipment into area. |
Begin late February 2008. Open after Spring Break 2008. |
Loyola Underground 1/21/08 p. 10-12 |
Art Gallery – demolish old Wolf Den. Install new Art Gallery with exposed concrete flooring, exposed ceiling, new homosoate walls, and museum-quality lighting. |
Begin December 2007. Open March 2008. |
p. 13 |
Hallway – paint, carpet, furniture |
TBD |
p. 12 |
LUCAP/CLC/Greek Life offices – move to temporary “swing” space. New carpet, paint, furniture. |
Begin December 2007. Open March 2008. |
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Student Organization Space – create open organizational area where current student organization closets are. Replace cinderblock with glass store front at entry, new carpet, paint, and work stations. |
Begin summer 2008. Open August 2008. |
p.10 |
What’s Loyola Dining Services cooking up? |
The vision and directive is simple: to be the BEST food services operation in the nation.
The Orleans Room
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Underground
- A huge selection of hot or cold sandwiches to order
- Homemade sweat potato chips
- Soups de jour
- Signature salads
- Baked potatoes
Mall Area
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How can I get involved? |
Hello! This is your building. There are tons of ways that you can get involved, and here are a few suggestions:
Menu Development
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Wanna help develop the Orleans Room menu? Do you have a favorite dish or recipe? Email lds@loyno.edu and let Chef Vinny know!
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Help SGA rename all the rooms. Email sgaction@loyno.edu with your ideas!
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Are you an officer of your student organization? Join the Student Organization Space Allocation committee and help decide what organizations get offices and where! Email SGA President Elliot Sanchez at sancheze@loyno.edu for more information.
Prayer Space
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Included in the scope of the renovation is to have a dedicated prayer space for Muslim students. Please join in the discussion by emailing Danish Siddiqui at dqsiddiq@loyno.edu
Sustainability and Going Green |
We are attempting to include as many green aspects in this renovation as possible, but it is difficult in an old building. Here’s what we’re working on:
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Installing new mechanical/electrical equipment to maximize energy efficiency.
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Elimination of paper and Styrofoam products in OR
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Using sustainable/green "to go" containers in the retail units.
Recycling of the metal "cheese grater" into sun shade structure
