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 Alumnus Neil Rauenhorst (above), Board of Trustees member and Opus Hall benefactor, speaks at the December ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Opus Hall is CUA’s — and Washington, D.C.’s — first residence hall built to be compliant with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. For Opus, the university is pursuing LEED certification, a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of energy-efficient “green” buildings. The residence hall features a highly insulated building shell, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, appliances and mechanical systems that meet EPA Energy Star specifications, and water-restrictive showerheads/faucets for minimum water usage.
Father O’Connell was joined in the ribbon-cutting ceremony by members of CUA’s Board of Trustees, including Neil J. Rauenhorst (B.Arch. 1976) and the board’s chairman, Most Rev. William E. Lori, bishop of Bridgeport, Conn. The name “Opus Hall” recognizes a $3 million contribution toward the building’s construction from Rauenhorst, his wife, Becky, and the Opus Group real estate development company. Opus East, L.L.C., constructed the building.
“The entire university community is profoundly grateful for your vision, Neil and Becky, for your commitment and dedication to the university,” said Father O’Connell. “It is through the efforts of alumni and trustees like you that great places of higher learning become even greater.”
Located in the campus’ northeast corner beside Flather Hall and John McCormack Road, Opus Hall is built to house 400 students.
Each suite within the building consists of one double and three single bedrooms, a common living room, double bathroom sink, lavatory and shower room. Each floor boasts an expansive kitchen and common area.
Student residents have access to a large community/lounge space on the first floor, including a fireplace, a “contemplative space” for individual and small-group activities, a central laundry and study area, and a 2,100-square-foot outdoor terrace.
The emphasis on common spaces in the building’s design is a response to CUA students’ preferences — it is something they requested when surveyed by CUA’s Office of Housing Services.
Senior Nick Berg is one of the students who moved in for the spring semester. As a junior he had lived in one of the Millennium dorms on North Campus and had excitedly watched Opus Hall being built, but he never thought he’d have the chance to live in it since it was originally scheduled to open after his graduation.
“As a student minister, I place great value on meeting my peers where they are, no matter what they are doing,” Berg says. “In Opus Hall, the common-area spaces are very conducive to small-group study or prayer groups, as well as impromptu community get-togethers. This has the potential to be very beneficial to our community.”
Future plans call for building another residence hall adjacent to Opus Hall and eventually demolishing student residence halls located on the university’s South Campus to make way for new development there.
In the shorter term, the opening of Opus Hall enabled the university to vacate and begin renovations on Gibbons Hall, which was built in 1912. The 140 students who resided in Gibbons during the fall of 2008 were invited to move into Opus Hall for the spring 2009 semester. — M.F.M.
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