Treanor Architects, P.A.

ATCHISON, KS – The Marian Grotto on the campus of Benedictine College has been awarded the 2009 Best Landscaping Project of the Year by Masonry Construction Magazine. The project was completed last fall and dedicated during the sesquicentennial year of Benedictine College.

The Grotto is nestled into a wooded hillside overlooking the heart of campus. The figure of Mary is visible from residence halls, playing fields, major campus buildings and the main walkway. According to the Benedictine Web site, Mary’s Grotto will accommodate outdoor Masses and will provide a central location on campus for individual reflection and prayer.

The magazine cited “old world craftsmanship” and “new age technology” in its description of the project. Treanor Architects, P.A., led the grotto design team, which included Overland Park, Kan., companies MKEC Engineering Consultants, Inc., and RTE Technologies. The project contractor was JE Dunn Construction.1. Trends in materials costs are favorable.

Fr. Brendan Rolling, Director for Mission and Ministry at Benedictine College, said he was pleased with the Grotto project.

“This is a visible symbol of the importance of our faith in a central location on our campus,” he said.

Benedictine’s 100-acre campus is located in Atchison, Kansas on the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. In 1858 Benedictine Monks established the college as a boarding school with six students. Benedictine College was incorporated in 1868 and empowered to confer degrees and academic honors. By 1915, St. Benedict’s gradually abandoned the traditional academy, greatly enlarged the curriculum, and became an accredited liberal arts college in 1927. Today Benedictine has an enrollment of more than 2,000 students.

Established in 1981, Treanor Architects currently employs 90 professionals and support staff in Lawrence and Topeka, Kan., and Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo. Treanor provides a full scope of architectural services for industrial, laboratory, educational and research facilities; justice centers; student life facilities; and historic preservation projects across the country and abroad.

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Information about the award can be found at www.ascribehq.com/masonry-constructionpoy/ awards/landscaping/nov2009/P4111. Additional information about Treanor Architects is online at www.treanorarchitects.com. Reproduction-quality images of the grotto are available upon request.

CONTACT: Emily Bengoa, 785.842.4858