| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History.
Opened as Holy Name Seminary in 1964, this complex has been the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center since 1995. The complex includes a very large seminary building, a residence, an underground heating plant, a playing field with a track and a brick concession stand, and a statue.
The seminary building is set very far back from High Point Road and is sited on the top of a rise, overlooking a broad lawn with a circular drive. Erected in 1962-64, the seminary building is a long, rectangular structure with a side-gabled roof. This Neo-Colonial Revival building is three stories tall on a raised basement, and finished with brick. The central projecting entrance pavilion is balanced by projecting end pavilions, creating a symmetrical facade. Each pavilion is front-gabled and displays a closed pediment and brick quoining. The entrance pavilion features monumental Doric columns supporting a stone entablature and pediment. Above is the steeple, composed of a brick base, a frame belfry enriched with pilasters and a classical entablature, and a tall, slender spire set an a polygonal frame base. The entrance is composed of a pair of doors beneath a semi-circular, multipane transom. The fenestration pattern is regular and consists of fixed metal windows flanked by multipane metal casements.
Alma Ganser, widow of prominent Madison physician William J. Ganser, donated this property to the Catholic diocese sometime between 1955 and 1960, for the construction of a seminary. Following much local fundraising, the cornerstone of the seminary building was laid in September 1962. Holy Name Seminary opened in 1964 and by 1966 was operating as a four-year (boarding)high school and a junior college for male students. The junior college program closed in 1970, but the high school thrived until closing under controversial circumstances in 1995. This complex reopened shortly thereafter as the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, with offices for the diocese and a retreat for parishioners.
Also on parcel are statue/sculpture (AHI 124600) and house (124601). |
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