Saint Bede Academy - Via Baeda Yearbook (Peru, IL)

Page 11 text:

The administration building of St. Bede (pictured above) is the largest building on the campus, and as such it houses the living quarters for the various de- partments of resident students and for many members of the faculty. Within its precincts are also situated the students’ chapel, school offices, classrooms, study halls, museum, and many other rooms used for curricular and extra-curricular activities. The panoramic view, pictured below from the south- west portion of the campus, offers a good idea of the layout of the buildings at St. Bede. At the left is the Abbey, in the center foreground is the Sisters’ home, behind it is the administration building, and at the ex- treme right is the power house. A colonnade of trees and shrubs forms a natural show- place of the main lane that serves as the entrance to the campus of St. Bede.

Page 10 text:

Among the scenes at St. Bede, perhaps the most pic- turesque is the monastery tower, pictured at the left. Towering above the other buildings on the campus, its gleaming cross proclaims the rock of faith on which the abbey and the school are founded. When Winter executes her magical transformation of familiar sights around the campus, the cloisters con- necting the school building with the abbey became an attractive rhapsody in black and white, as the picture in the lower left hand corner indicates. The Buildings and Campus of St. Bede. A pathway between the pine trees west of the monastery build- ing formed the out- door cathedral in which the Stations of the Cross were erected (picture above).

Page 12 text:

Ever since the destruction of the spacious Abbot Vincent Gymnasium in March 1953, the physical plant of St. Bede has been devoid of a much needed indoor recreation center. Al- though the lack of such a building was keenly felt both by the students and faculty, their inconveniences were offset considerably by the sight of the rebuilding project which was beginning to approach the appearance of the finished pro- duct shown in the accompanying architects’ sketch. By the time that the Via Baeda went to press reconstruction had ad- vanced far beyond the two stages pictured at the bottom of the page. Larry Dobberstein, pictured above with Father Theodore, rec- tor, became a very familiar figure on the campus during the year. His position as contractors’ foreman made it necessary for him to be on hand every work day. The advances made in the re- building of the gym during the ’54- ’55 school year gave every promise that the building would be in readi- ness by the fall of 1955. The picture at the left shows the marbelized steel enamel panel- ing in place on the east wall of the gym, while in the picture above the stage area is receiving a cement floor.