FP Archives
Mr. Foley ' 63 signs a pillar in the new lobby. mr. Foley taught in Hughes Hall for several years before the " new " prep was built. He was here when the 4th floor was built and here for the start of the newest renovation: entrance and Commons. This coming academic year will be mr. Foley’ s 50th as a teacher at Fordham prep.
Making an Entrance
Lou Digiorno’ 88
By the time you read this article, mr. James pollard and the rest of the maintenance staff will have wrapped up a few last details on the pre-Dobransbicentennial grand Antechamber project— more prosaically known as the new lobby construction.
chair cushions in place: 3 fingerprints off the new glass sliding doors: 3 portrait of Fr. Shea hung: 3
[ incidentally, the portrait of Shea has been to the conservator’ s for a cleaning and revarnishing. Father will be looking spiffier than ever to celebrate the prep’ s 175th anniversary. { And in case you’ re keeping score: 2016 is the 96th anniversary of Fr. Shea’ s arrival at the prep. We’ re going to have to mark that centennial in four years, too. perhaps with a long afternoon of walking jug?( Oh, and if you happen to have a spare bust of Knute rockne dating back to the 1930s, let me know before 2020— i’ m going to need one for the festivities. [ Long story.])}]
The construction of the new entranceway has given the prep a truly remarkable space, as well as a truly remarkable way to kick off the school’ s jubilee. [ Fact: traditional scholarship ultimately derives the word jubilee from the Hebrew word yovél,“ a ram,” since Old Testament jubilee periods were declared with the sounding of the ramshorn. How’ s that for a Fordham connection?] While the lobby’ s openness, brightness, and clean, contemporary architecture belong to the
prep of today, the preservation of the preexisting terrazzo flooring and the hand-set stonework reference the institution’ s venerability. And of course, the artistry of the reliefs of St. John the Baptist and St. ignatius of Loyola have about them an air of timelessness. Altogether, the new lobby is perfect for marking this important milestone in the prep’ s present, past and future.
Besides a lounge and reception area [ note to self: pick up a small statue of St. Alphonsus rodriguez, SJ for mrs. Corinne Walsh’ s desk. if she’ s going to be at the front door, she can probably do with a little inspiration from the patron saint of porters { and portresses } of Jesuit institutions.], the lobby has also been designed as a gallery and museumette. Team trophies, student artwork and artifacts from the school’ s past century-and-three-quarters are now on display for the prep community at large. The first exhibits included Fordham prep’ s connection to the 19th century birth of Caribbean baseball, a look at the prep’ s first computer lab [ We even dug up one of Fr. Sloun and Fr. Lombardi’ s first generation Ataris from the‘ 80s!], a desk from the early 1900s, and a retrospective on four decades of accumulated Star Wars memorabilia. Future planned exhibits include Fordham prep and the invention of the gummy bear [ no joke!], and a look back at a century’ s worth of Fordham phones. [ Yes, we have the old Commons pay phone in storage. Actual comment from freshman Seamus Cooper, Class of 2019:“ Oh, pay phones. i’ ve heard of those. You needed quarters, right?” { Obviously he was joking. We’ re not that old, are we?}]
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