“Your sacred space is
where you can find yourself
again and again.” 
Joseph Campbell

After graduating from elementary school in June 1968, I attended Saint Ignatius High School at Turk & Stanyan Streets in San Francisco. In the fall of 1969, which was the beginning of my sophomore year, the school moved from the Stanyan Street campus into a new facility on 37th Avenue in The Sunset District. With the change in location came another significant change. The official name of the school became Saint Ignatius College Preparatory.

In that first year on 37th Avenue, while classes were held in the new H-shaped, three-story classroom building, construction continued on other parts of the campus. McGucken Hall, which would be the residence for the Jesuit community, the Carlin Commons, a large multi-purpose room used for lunch, assemblies, and school dances, and the Orradre Chapel were still under construction. Those structures were all completed by the beginning of the 1970-71 academic year.  

At the start of my junior year, I got involved in a group which provided liturgical music for school liturgies, including a weekly Sunday night Mass in the new chapel. The Sunday night liturgies were amazing. Each week, the chapel was filled to capacity with students from S.I. and a good number of students from the local girls’ high schools. There were only a few chairs set up in the back of the chapel. To accommodate the number of attendees, students sat on the carpeted floor for these Masses. The music was contemporary. The homilies by Jesuit priests were thought-provoking, challenging, and interesting. And after Mass each week, a gathering was held in the Carlin Commons, just a few steps from the chapel, at which the high school youth could enjoy cookies, beverages, and good conversation. It was truly an experience of a Eucharistic community.

Difficult as it may seem to comprehend, the “new S.I.” that opened on 37th Avenue in 1969 is already more than fifty years old. Times have changed. Needs have changed. With only a couple of Jesuits still working at the school, there is no need for the large Jesuit community building. McGucken Hall, because it was constructed as a residential building, does not meet the required codes to be used for any other purpose. Also, since S.I. became a coeducational institution 35 years ago, the number of students on campus has increased. The need for additional learning space, configured in ways more compatible with current educational practices, requires significant changes to the campus.

In the coming months, McGucken Hall, the Carlin Commons, and Orradre Chapel will be demolished. In that space at the north end of the S.I. campus, a new state-of-the-art learning center will be built. The new structure will include a new chapel.

This past Saturday evening, I had the honor of attending the final Mass to be celebrated in Orradre Chapel. It was a bittersweet event. I couldn’t help but reflect back on the Sunday night liturgies I attended in the early 70s. My mind was filled with images and names of those who were regular participants in those celebrations, as well as the Jesuit priests who presided at them. For me, and for so many others, Orradre Chapel has been a sacred space. It was, without a doubt, a place where I found God… and myself.

• Check out the plans for the new learning center:
https://www.siprep.org/giving/what-to-support/building-our-future-forward?src=bug