THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.

Philadelphia architects

F. Ferdinand Durang and Isaac Hathaway Francis designed the building in the collegiate-Gothic style popular in the 1920s. The Administration Building housed the chapel, library, dining halls, the art gallery, classrooms and labs, art and music studios, an auditorium, dormitories for the students, living quarters for the Sisters, and a solarium.

Ground was broken on June 3, 1921, at a ceremony presided over by Bishop Michael John Hoban (1853-1926). A second, more public groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 18, 1922, when the building’s cornerstone was laid. A lockbox was placed in the cornerstone to be opened on the school’s centenary in 2024.

The Sisters knew early on that the original footprint of the Administration Building would not be enough space and began another fundraising effort. Durang was once again contracted in 1930 to design additions to the Administration Building, which were constructed between 1930 and 1931 and opened in 1932. The chapel was moved from the second floor to the west wing, which is where it resides to this day. The “south entrance gateway,” affectionately known as the Arch, was also included in this contract. Durang designed the Arch and the enclosure wall at the lower end of Lake Street to match the College’s original entrance, part of which still exists at the top of the street.

Over the course of the last century, Misericordia has expanded outward from its center and heart. The