According to plan

Early years: The UD you didn’t get to see

Forged from a mission of mercy, the earliest iteration of the University of Dayton’s campus reveals the beginnings of its strategic planning. 

As the sun rose over Dayton, so too did the boys of St. Mary’s from their beds inside the 1840s Stuart mansion. Described by Father Leo Meyer, S.M., as “lordly,” the land the Marianists now owned had rolling fields, wide pastures, vineyards, stables and barns. Impressive woods with cedar trees marked the surrounding area, all a blank canvas for the growth Meyer imagined.

Meyer was the first Marianist in America, sent on a mission of mercy and compassion during the cholera epidemic. He seized the opportunity to create a Catholic, Marianist boarding school in 1850.  

When a December 1855 fire reduced the Stuart mansion to ash, the brothers temporarily relocated to the farmhouse near the orchard. By September 1857, they again welcomed pupils, this time to a newly built structure — the “Old Convent” — with classrooms and living quarters. 

As director starting in 1860, Brother Maximin Zehler, S.M., engineered the first rapid expansion, rooted in the needs of a growing student body that had surpassed 100.

Much of this historic campus remains today: Zehler Hall, St. Joseph’s Hall, Liberty Hall, the Play House (now Rike Hall), the Powerhouse and the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, built in 1869.

St. Mary’s Hall went up in 1871, called “Zehler’s folly” for its imposing size. However, the then-largest building in Dayton would soon be filled with even more students eager to learn from the Marianists. 

These foundational buildings, planned out of necessity and built onto a landscape of opportunity, answered the call of compassion Meyer received in the mid-19th century. That original mission lives on and is strengthened with each iteration of campus planning. 

1920s: Decade of progress

The decade began with a roaring start as UD officially changed its name from St. Mary’s College in 1920, reflecting its evolving mission, expanding enrollment, broader academic aspirations and lasting bond with the city of Dayton. 

Beginning that year, the board of trustees embarked on the Campus Extension Program, an ambitious blueprint for the University’s future.

The first official campus master plan,  “An Era of Progress, 1920-1926,” included a new residence hall and athletic field. 

Construction soon followed vision. Alumni Hall rose in 1924, providing housing for 170 students. But the mortar was barely dry before it was clear more space was needed. Enrollment climbed from 784 students in 1920 to more than 1,100 by 1926, filling classrooms and residence halls alike. The board of trustees sought more expansion, including:

• A second residence hall to accommodate an additional 200 students.
  
  
• An auditorium and gymnasium. 
  
  
• A science hall and engineering building to centralize labs and courses.
  
  
• A faculty building for offices and living quarters

In 1925, the sound of whistles and cleats found a permanent home on campus when UD Stadium, later known as Baujan Field, opened as the University’s primary athletic facility. UD’s football team played on its grass until 1974 when Welcome Stadium was opened. Now home to UD’s men’s and women’s soccer teams, the field’s iconic terraced seating section wasn’t added until 2000.

After World War I, University leaders realized their growing collection of books — and the students eager to read them — needed a centralized home. Father Bernard J. O’Reilly, S.M., approached former preparatory student Victor Emanuel for support. Emanuel pledged $200,000 to construct the building, named in honor of his father, Albert Emanuel. When Albert Emanuel Hall opened in 1928, it became the University’s first library under one roof; the Dayton Daily News called it a “model of library efficiency.” 

The original plans for the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception back in the 1800s called for an “ornate front and steeple,” but the plans hit a snag when the Marianist General Administration in Paris found it to be too pretentious and ordered a reduction of the building. 

While beloved today, the dome belfry, the leadership of the 1920s noted, “seems to have just been dropped in place.” It wasn’t fancy enough, and they wanted something prettier. They proposed removing the dome, adding a campanile (bell tower) and expanding the footprint to seat the entire student body. 

As with many of the plans to come, much of the ambitions of the 1920s never materialized on schedule, including the chapel, which retained its dome through more measured renovations in the 1970s and 2000s. 

1950s: Era of expansion

 By the time the 1950s dawned on campus, the University of Dayton was no longer the small, tight-knit college it had been before World War II. Veterans filled classrooms and residence halls — enrollment rose to more than 3,500 by 1950 — and the University found itself growing up quickly.

Brick by brick, UD needed drastic expansion. In 1952, the University announced a major development program to be built during the next decade, costing an estimated $6.3 million. Plans included: 

New academic buildings 

• O’Reilly Hall, 1951
  
  
• Sherman Hall, 1959
  
  
• Wohlleben Hall, 1958
  
  

Auditorium, music/speech building (never built)

• Kennedy Union, but not until 1963
  
  
• Library expansion to Albert Emmanuel Hall 
  
  

… and more residence halls 

• Founders Hall in 1953
  
  
• University Hall (West Campus), 1960
  
  

On Sept. 28, 1952, the Dayton Daily News ran a front-page illustration of the proposed buildings. The most prominent spot on the map (the location of Roesch Library today) showed the auditorium, music and speech building; the auditorium was a carry-over from the 1920s plan and would continue to be identified as an “urgent need” through the next three decades. 

The mock-up also included the already approved Founders Hall, built to mirror Alumni Hall. Named after two of the original University founders, Brother Maximin Zehler and Father Leo Meyer, it housed more than 430 students in 214 rooms. UD also housed male students in a former Veterans Administration building 5 miles from campus known as University Hall or “West Campus,” from 1960 to 1972. 

Albert Emanuel library soon reached capacity, originally intended for a student enrollment of just over 1,000. With the proposed additions to the building on three sides — east, north and south exteriors — the building would supply space to an anticipated enrollment of more than 3,000. In 1959, construction on just the north and south sides began. 

Total student enrollment would leapfrog to more than 10,000 by the late 1980s, and the land once identified for the auditorium and speech building became Roesch Library in 1971. Albert Emanuel later held the School of Law in the 1970s and now houses the University Archives, the Office of Recruitment and Admission, and the Division of University Marketing and Communications, including the UD Magazine staff.

1980s – 1990s: Beautiful campus

Yes, UD has a beautiful campus — everyone says so. We can thank, in part, the 1980s. Known for big hair and Benetton, the ’80s are also when UD created its landscaping master plan. “First impressions do count,” it reads, noting how a lovely campus attracts students and helps them grow, as well as accentuates the historical, cultural and religious significance of sites on campus. This included landscape care for student houses, of which UD purchased 126 in this decade.

At the time, UD lacked a formal entrance. But, with the donation in 1986 of land near the corner of Stewart and Brown Streets (formerly Frisch’s Big Boy), UD would have a chance to landscape a proper welcome, complete with an oak tree-lined lane.

St. Joseph Hall was gutted by fire Dec. 22, 1987, and underwent a $5.5 million reconstruction, including raising the roof to create a full fourth floor. It reopened to classes in August 1989.

The ’80s were also marked by expanded living opportunities for students. Originally dubbed the “Woodland Hillside Facility” — which is a great name for a retirement and rehabilitation home — the more appropriately named Virginia W. Kettering Residence Hall opened in 1987 with housing for 450 sophomore students and a dining facility to accommodate 500.

In 1988, UD presented the Campus 2000 Plan, a list of everything UD wanted to complete by the turn of the century. Early drafts suggested demolishing Liberty Hall; creating an Engineering Legacy Garden; constructing connectors linking St. Joseph Hall, the chapel and St. Mary’s Hall; and building a parking garage with first-floor bookstore and post office. None of that happened.

What we did get from the plan are Frericks Hall, which expanded athletics offices and player space, the Science Center and the Jesse Philips Humanities Center, which added 83,000 square feet of classroom and faculty office space.

The Campus 2000 Plan also called for a new law library. At the time, the library and law classes were held in Albert Emanuel Hall. Instead, Joseph E. Keller came forward to help fund a soaring new law school building with a library therein. . Keller Hall opened for classes in 1997, proving it pays to think big no matter the decade.

Early 2000s: Lots of land

For a landlocked university, the early 2000s were an era of great expansion, joyful optimism and careful planning.

The 210-acre campus grew twice — in 2005 with the purchase of former factory land, and again in 2009 with the purchase of a former world headquarters building and park, all sold by NCR Corp.  — to 374 acres.

These unexpected boons meant campus could dream big. In 2008, with a 2011 update, the campus land-use plan set these priorities — and found these successes:

• Housing for all undergrads — Caldwell Street Apartments went up. Stuart, Marycrest and Founders halls and Campus South received renovations.
  
  
• Enhanced academic core — Engineering got more space in Kettering Labs as the UD Research Institute moved to what is now Curran Place. Education, health sciences, art, design and music moved to updated facilities in what is now Fitz Hall. Roesch Library got a facelift outside and a renovation inside.
  
  
• Recreation and connection — Mechanical Engineering Building came down, Central Mall went up, courts of the Graul Tennis Complex were laid, and the Klesse Soccer Complex and Stuart Field sprouted.
  
  
• Growth in a sustainable way — Since 2006, every building project has met LEED building standards.
  
  

UD left lots of room for future planning, including much of the factory property, where now sit facilities by two industry partners, Copeland and GE Aerospace. Fifteen years later,  there’s still room for less grass and more growth, with exciting things happening across the street at onMain.

The cover of the 2008 land-use plan features a drawing of an expansive arts center and plaza, with performance, gallery, classroom and rehearsal spaces rising from the parking lots immediately across Brown Street from Holy Angels Catholic Church. This was at least the third time UD proposed an arts center in a campus master plan — and the third time it didn’t happen. (Spoiler: We got the Roger Glass Center for the Arts in 2024.) Plans also called for a new alumni center and mixed-use academic, commercial, academic and housing buildings, which never happened. UD passed on plans to renovate Chaminade Hall (the building came down in 2025) and a STEM addition to Wohlleben Hall, though the Science Center did get high-tech labs, new windows and renovated classrooms.

Perhaps the most visible success of these plans is the renovation of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. The initial illustrations, heavy on dark wood tones, were replaced by a bright, light interior that now welcomes. The renovation reinforced that the bricks of our faith — and the foundation of our campus — are more than mortar and clay.

2027 – 2099: Tomorrow land

UD has been employing the 2011 land-use plan — and veering off script to take advantage of opportunities. For example, an arts center now sits at the key corner of Main and Stewart streets, a center for health and wellbeing is being built, and onMain is rising adjacent to campus. 

This January, UD embarked on a new campus master planning process with consulting firm Ayers Saint Gross to envision UD’s future — for the next 50 to 75 years — with a focus on mission and values. It is gathering input from students, faculty and staff to assess current conditions and dream of what campus could be. (Among suggestions from students: more communal kitchens, an improved business school and gathering places for graduate students.) The process will culminate in December with recommendations on not just physical structures but the types of spaces that best promote learning, research and community building. 

It’s an opportunity constructed on the past with an eye toward the end of the century. And when today’s students come back for their Golden Flyers reunion in 50 years, they will be able to say, “We built this.” 

Just a dream

A LAND OF POSSIBILITIES

Drawing on nearly two centuries of inspiration, UD Magazine staff decided to try its hand at campus master planning. As it turns out, we’re pretty good at this — kind of. Borrowing from the past and rewriting pieces of history, we present an alternative campus that shows just how important careful consideration by professionals and stakeholders really is when planning UD’s future.

What would you add to the campus map? Tell us: magazine@udayton.edu

• If at first you don’t succeed, keep adding an arts center to the next plan. Our map rewinds and constructs in 2005 an earlier vision of a building with an arts plaza across from Holy Angels church. 
  
  
• Before Roesch Library, we claimed the space for a new speech [and music] building from the 1950s plan. Because we’re communicators. And we want our own building. [Music eventually moves across Brown Street. We’ll come visit.]
  
  
• In our retelling, the original Stuart mansion is saved from the 1855 fire. Its turrets still stand tall as a daily reminder of our roots. 
  
  
• Is it true that geniuses are never understood in their own lifetime? We’re not sure who in the 1920s proposed such a radical chapel redesign, but we embraced its offset bell and clock tower and expanded footprint that fits the entire student body for Mass. All together now: “campanile.”
  
  
• Every plan since the original Marianists’ wants a parking garage. Fine. Here you go. You’re welcome. 
  
  
• Long before it was hip and healthy, bicycle riding had a home on our reimagined campus. We invited Orville and Wilbur to set up shop along the path. 
  
  
• We’re keeping the original orchards and vineyards. After all, Bordeaux is in our blood.
  
  
• In the 2000s, the University considered rebuilding the library in the center of campus, or merging it there with a new union. We love books — so it stays independent.
  
  
• We didn’t sell the land behind what is now Marycrest to Woodland Cemetery. Instead, we erected a faculty building, called for in the 1920s, with offices and residences. Now faculty get their own uphill walk of character-building. 
  
  
• Instead of renovating the student union, we built a new one, mixing the best of past and present with a full-sized bowling alley, outdoor fire pits and the largest front porch you’ve ever seen. It’s still unclear whether anyone has gone to class since.
  
  
• Nothing says community quite like a cabana and a drink with an umbrella. The old swimming hole stays. Maybe even a waterslide down Stuart Hill?

A version of this article appears in print in the Spring 2026 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 24. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE