Another milestone in the Archdiocesan Expansion Program was achieved this week with the announcement of groundbreaking March 10, for the Newman Center and Spalding Chapel to serve the University of Georgia in Athens.

The Mathis Construction Company in Athens was awarded the building contract and expects to complete both projects before October 1, 1966, in time for the opening of the next school year. The low bid was $292,761.00. However, the contract, negotiated by the architect, Albert O. Ordway, will be signed for the sum of $282,000.

The Spalding Chapel is named after John Lancaster Spalding, 19th century pioneer bishop of the U.S. hierarchy.

The chapel will be a nine-sided building seating 350 persons. It will feature a 60-foot bell tower with a 20-foot cross atop. The furnishings and designs will conform to the new liturgical norms, approved by the Vatican Council and published by the American hierarchy.

The student center houses a large auditorium accommodating 300 persons, three classrooms, a library, lounge, two chaplains’ offices and a study. The building will be a split level complex, with living quarters for the chaplains and guest quarters, all on the second level.

The Franciscan Fathers of the Province of the Most Holy Name, with headquarters in New York City, staff the center. Father Christian Malone, O.F.M., is the current resident chaplain.

Albert Ordway, the architect, has designed several parish projects including St. Jude’s, Sandy Springs and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Atlanta, as well as the recent additions at Christ the King Cathedral School.

The Mathis Company has built the following structures:

First Methodist Church, Athens; First Baptist Church, Toccoa; First Baptist Church Addition, Athens; Pharmacy Building, University of Georgia, Athens; Banks-Jackson-Commerce Hospital, Commerce; C & S Bank Building, Athens; and The National Bank, Athens.

The Newman Center and adjoining Spalding Chapel compose the second project of the Archdiocesan Expansion Program which has been moved from the drawing table to the reality of construction. The contract awarded for the new children’s Village of St. Joseph, to be built in Southwest Atlanta, was announced last week. Groundbreaking will take place toward the end of March.