DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A new building will be added to the St. Norbert College campus, thanks to a donation from the Schneider family.
The college announced Thursday the new home of the Donald & Patricia Schneider Family Hall will be built on the current site of the Pennings Activity Center, the former Pennings High School.
Work will begin on the project this winter, and the new Schneider Family Hall will be completed in time for fall classes in 2025.
“We are honored and humbled by this significant gift from the Schneider family, and we continue to be thankful for their deep commitment to advancing our students and so many others throughout our community,” said Thomas Kunkel, interim president of St. Norbert College. “Their gift will help St. Norbert College strengthen its central role in the northeast Wisconsin business community, and it will spark many new opportunities for those who live, learn and work here.”
The 45,000 square-foot hall, which will be built at the western end of the Claude Allouez bridge, will house the Donald J. Schneider School of Business & Economics and a new sports management program that launches in the fall. It will include classrooms, workspaces designed for contemporary learning, space for executive education and conferencing opportunities, and a connected terrace for gathering along the Fox River.
In addition, St. Norbert College announced plans to renovate Boyle Hall. This work will be done in several phases, and the initial piece will focus on enhancing classrooms on the building’s first two floors.
Built in 1917, Boyle Hall was one of the first buildings on the St. Norbert College campus. Today it hosts the college’s humanities and social sciences disciplines, including theology, history and education.
The Pennings Activity Center began life in 1923 as Nicolet High School, becoming part of the West De Pere School District. In 1959, it was purchased by the Norbertines and renamed Abbot Pennings High School in honor of St. Norbert College’s founder, Abbot Bernard Pennings. Upon its closure, St. Norbert College purchased the building and land, and it has occupied it since.
The legacy of Nicolet/Pennings High will be memorialized in Schneider Family Hall, and the college will soon announce plans for a public recognition of the building this fall before it is razed.
