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BERRIEN SPRINGS - Groundbreaking for a $5.8 million renovation and expansion of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary took place on Sunday, April 25, on the south lawn of the Seminary Building. The grassy plot of land will soon give way to backhoes and construction crews, as 25,000 square feet of new office, auditorium and classroom space are added to the building's existing 35,000 square feet of space. The groundbreaking brought together university administration, seminary faculty and church leaders from around the nation and world. Among those in attendance were Andrews Board Chairman Robert Kloosterhuis, board member Dolores Slikkers, Andrews President Niels-Erik Andreasen, Seminary Dean Werner Vyhmeister and Associate Dean John McVay. Adventist Church leaders attending included Gerry Karst, assistant to the General Conference president, and Humberto Rasi, director of the General Conference Department of Education. Construction on the Adventist Theological Seminary building was completed in 1961 and since that time no significant improvements to the building have been made. But today, the home to a whole generation of Adventist graduate theological studies is starting to show considerable wear, said McVay. "Like our church and its message, this building has stood strong. But we need to ensure that this home of Adventist graduate theological study is ready and equipped for the next century." Classrooms are increasingly crowded in the seminary and the building lacks central air-conditioning and sufficient work spaces. A bigger building will also make it possible to house departments that currently are in separate buildings, including the Siegfried H. Horn Archaeological Museum and the North American Division Evangelism Institute. The seminary groundbreaking represents not only a capital improvement on a 38-year-old building, but also the inauguration of brick-and-mortar activity under the "Campaign for Andrews II." The university's current $13 million dollar capital campaign will fund construction on four campus buildings: the seminary expansion and renovation, a new undergraduate classroom building, an extension for the Architecture Building and the renovation of Nethery Hall, the campus' academic center. To date, $10.7 million has been raised in cash and pledges toward the $13 million goal. "It's appropriate that the spirit of sacrifice and generosity that our donors have shown us will first manifest itself in a building for the training of Christian leaders," said David Faehner, vice president for university advancement. Though the seminary's placement as one of the six schools that constitute Andrews is now well-established, the story behind the seminary's migration to Berrien Springs is still a chapter of campus history worth recounting. Graduate theological education first started in the Adventist Church with the Advanced Bible School, which was housed on the campus of Pacific Union College in the 1930s. The fledgling institution was transplanted eastward in 1937 to Takoma Park, Maryland, then the church's administrative epicenter and home to all General Conference offices. The renamed Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary was located on a small lot behind the GC office building. But growth in enrollment brought about problems: Cramped quarters and insufficient parking eventually necessitated the need for another facility. Space problems were further exacerbated when the church's graduate school was joined with the theological seminary in 1956. (The academic amalgam was given the name "Potomac University.") In the late 1950s, church leaders considered both a Maryland and a California site for the seminary and graduate schools. But during the October 1958 Fall Council meetings held in Takoma Park, a new site was considered and pushed by delegates from the American Middle West. If the church wanted to heed the "rural-is- better" counsel of Ellen White, why not choose the campus of bucolic Emmanuel Missionary College in rural Berrien Springs, Mich? Leading the argument at the meetings -- and offering the 40 free acres of real estate -- was Floyd Rittenhouse, then the president of EMC. The idea caught on and was carried by a vote of 113 to 60. By the spring of 1959, earth movers were changing the face of EMC's campus, as buildings (the seminary, the James White Library and the Garland Apartments) rose where once only orchards and open fields had been. The seminary move and the new graduate school spurred the transformation of EMC from a primarily Midwestern, undergraduate institution into a university with an international student body and vision. To reflect the change, the Board of Trustees voted in 1960 to rename to the college "Andrews University." Construction on the seminary's renovation and expansion is expected to be finished by fall 2000. The contractor will be Fiskars, Inc. In the last 12 years, the Benton Harbor, Mich.- based company has done several projects on the campus, including the expansion wings on Pioneer Memorial Church, Nethery Hall and Administration Building elevators, and Chan Shun and Harrigan halls. # # # |
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