UTICA, NY – On Friday, September 29th at 11:30 am, the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce along with its staff, board, Ambassadors, and Catalyst will be celebrating a ribbon cutting ceremony in honor of the unveiling of the newly-built Monsignor Francis J. Willenburg Center on Notre Dame’s junior/senior high’s Burrstone Road campus.
The building pays memorial tribute to Msgr. Willenburg, the beloved priest known throughout Central New York for decades as a devoted advocate for young people and fan for many area schools and sports teams.
The state-of-the-art center is a multi-functional space featuring a lobby, separate entrance, and handicap accessibility. The original school building, founded in 1960, will now have a stage and an additional gymnasium featuring a regulation-size basketball court and bleachers, among other amenities. The Msgr. Willenburg Center will provide room for not only Notre Dame’s growing performing arts and athletic programs, but the community’s as well.
The project is a result of the successful and ongoing “Making Our Kids World Ready” capital campaign which provides funding for the building as well as an endowment fund to assist families with the expense of tuition. This year $50,000 in additional scholarship money will be awarded thanks to this continuing effort.
The unveiling celebration will be officiated by the Most Rev. Robert J. Cunningham, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. Other local dignitaries will be on the occasion and the public is welcome to attend.
