The St. Thomas Daniel C. Gainey Conference Center’s plan to expand is well underway.

Located in Owatonna, Minn., the center hopes to re-establish itself after losing business, such as corporate retreats, due to the recession.

Alumni relations manager Nadine Friederichs said Gainey has reached out to new contacts in order to rebrand the center.

“What happened was we were so relying on the businesses like 3M and IBM that when the recession hit and things changed… it was almost dead,” Friederichs said. “There were weeks that were booked by them and then all of a sudden they were gone.”

Doug Hennes, vice president for university and government relations, said he is optimistic about the expansion’s ability to attract larger groups.

“We’ve had a lot of what we call turn-away business because we haven’t been able to handle their size,” Hennes said. “If we had a second conference room, it just would give us more flexibility in scheduling multiple clients in the same day.”

Along with adding a multipurpose conference room, the plan includes a chapel and an expanded dining area. Hennes said the chapel would be a great addition for weddings and retreats.

“We have some weddings, probably up to a half dozen weddings a year there. It’s a beautiful setting,” Hennes said. “We also have a lot of groups, both St. Thomas and external groups, that use the place for retreat purposes.”

Plans for establishing a wildlife art museum are under consideration, but art history professor Victoria Young said a lot of questions remain unanswered.

“Would there be a separate stand-alone building for that Wildlife Art Museum? I don’t know. Or would the collection just hang on the walls?” Young said. “But (wildlife art) is something that Gainey’s had for a long time, and there’s a real strong connection to it down there in Owatonna.”

The Opening Doors capital campaign will fund the expansion. However, only around $400,000 has been raised, a little more than $2 million shy of what’s needed for renovations.

“Nothing will be started until all the money is funded,” Friederichs said.

Some students approve the expansion plans, especially the chapel.

“I think that’s cool and a good idea. It’ll add more of a St. Thomas touch,” junior Jessica Wilson said.

Junior Sarah Hendricks said a Gainey chapel would be “an amazing addition.”

“People would be able to add more of a faith-filled aspect into their trip,” Hendricks said. “It would be a great opportunity for any group to be able to go to the chapel to pray together and connect on a deeper level.”

Senior Adam Miller said he hopes the additions are “student-oriented” in some way.

“These additions (would be) a great way for the rest of the organizations on campus to use Gainey for what it is,” Miller said.

Gehry meets Gainey

A newer addition to the Gainey center is the Winton House, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry in 1982. Young said the home was donated to St. Thomas in 2007 and was placed at Gainey in May due to lack of space on the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses.

“I wish we would have had that baby right over on Summit Avenue, but we didn’t,” Young said. “Owatonna, in some way, is the second best place in Minnesota for it to go.”

Hennes said this house is one of the main pieces of Gehry’s architecture that helped him get worldwide attention.

“He already was an established architect, but it moved him into a different realm,” Hennes said.

Young said that despite Gehry’s age, his well-respected work keeps him busy.

“I mean as far as architects go, he’s probably one of the most famous in the world right now,” Young said.

Young said students are already appreciating Gehry’s work in art history courses.

“I’m teaching a graduate course on Gehry and his contemporaries so we’re spending a weekend in Owatonna,” Young said. “And this is great too because then we can get students into the Gainey Center.”

Interest in Gehry extends beyond St. Thomas.

“I already have the University of Minnesota architecture students wanting to get in,” Young said. “They’ve been calling me for years.”

Young said she hopes students will appreciate the space.

“When you walk into a living room that’s 35 feet tall, it’s crazy. It just feels really different,” she said. “I think it’ll be really fun for students just to think about it. And that was the donor’s intent too.”

Frank Gehry will be attending the opening of the house Oct. 2, and public tours will begin Oct. 16.

Cynthia Johnson can be reached at john3175@stthomas.edu.