I didn’t intend to suggest that no students ever go to mass, I wanted to point out that the student-life-oriented facilities planned for the West Stadium building will be located close to three buildings (the library, DeBartolo & O’Shaughnessy Halls) utilized by thousands of students each and every day.

We can endlessly debate what’s “central” to life on campus, geographically or otherwise, but I think these renovations are located in appropriately accessible and high traffic area and aren’t a “solution in search of a problem,” or an example of “major hubris.”

N.B. I’m not the Aaron that supports Fearless Flea below.

Heretic! Seriously though, when was the last time you were on campus? Did you ever watch the doors of the Basilica on Sunday morning? Observe the sea of students pouring in? Did you never attend a 10pm dorm Mass on Sunday night? Did you miss all the Masses going on around campus on a daily basis? How about the 9pm Easter Sunday student Mass when the basilica is full of only students, standing room only? Just because your life doesn’t center around the Mass doesn’t mean student life doesn’t center around the Mass. Come back home. Come to Mass. Jesus is always waiting!

I am a Marquette U grad but a Irish Fan since Marquette gave up football— I started as a ND Fan when my brothers & I listened to ND beat OSU in 1935 which has since been called the best Football game “ever” I even know remember the names of some of the players who starred in that game that are never mentioned by the writers PILNEY, Puplis, and Fromhart– There are others which even we don’t remember but we listened intently on our small radio in our kitchen –If they collect $400 Mil during this campaign it will be a great feat—My purse is small and my wife is a great mother (nine) great children and many grand kids but but we might be able to squeeze out something. We’ll keep in touch !

2.) THE PRODUCT ON THE FIELD THEN BETTER BE JUST AS GOOD AS THIS RENOVATION!!!!!!

Some folks have pointed out that the stadium isn’t in a truly “central” location, but I’ve got to disagree. While it isn’t as traditionally central like maybe Alumni Hall, or the Main Building, it’s certainly near a significant amount of student pedestrian traffic. The stadium sits directly behind one of the most commonly utilized classroom buildings, DeBartolo Hall, and also near the (relatively) new science building, Jordan Hall. I shouldn’t need to point out, either, that it’s not particularly distant from the library. Thousands of students utilize these buildings every day and come within spitting distance of the stadium to do so. The new West building will bring a modern recreation facility and a modern student lounge closer to the center of campus, and the large student population in the South Quad area.

Converting Rolfs to a basketball facility might sound like an afterthought, but at least basketball is getting some attention. The JACC is old and funky and at this point any augmentation to those facilities, connected or not, is an improvement.

I would love to have had these facilities at my disposal I was a student, rather than the Stadium just being something I had to walk around. And, let’s face it, as a student I visited the Basilica probably less than five times in my four years at Notre Dame. Call me a heretic, but student life doesn’t center around mass, it centers around class and social life (which depends directly on football half the year). This project seems to reflect that fact.