St. Gregory's Abbey and College - Shawnee, OK - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

St. Gregory's is the State of Oklahoma's only Catholic University. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the abbey and the college have seen many changes.

In 1975, the school was a two-year college with about 400 students. Today it is a full university with a four-year program, and about 700 students. This building served as the school, church and abbey until about 1940 when a separate church was constructed nearby. In the mid 1950s a separate abbey was built, and this building became fully devoted to the educational activities.

Designed by architect Victor Kutho of St. Louis, great pains were taken to make the building strong, secure and constructed with only the best materials. It is a 5-story building with concrete floors, and walls of reinforced concrete with brick veneer. A large tower rises above the fifth floor to over 100 feet.

In 1967, during a time of growth, it was decided not to demolish this building because it was so massive and well constructed. Instead, it was gutted and renovated to bring it up to date. On November 5, 2011, the largest earthquake to ever strike Oklahoma (a 5.6 magnitude), did extensive damage to the building. Large parts of the tower fell. At a cost of $5 million, repairs were made and the building continues on as a mainstay of the university.

The rectangular building is symmetrical, approximately 90 ft. by 260 ft. Metal-framed windows are set singly and in triples, with stone sills, which are continuous on the third level.

The wide central tower has projected 6-sided columns at each corner and rises high above the roof line of the building. Three bays project at the center and each end of floors three through five, with stepped parapets at the top. A balustrade encircles the flat roof.

Entrance to the university is from the south on W. MacArthur, on a quarter-mile long drive.

Street address: 1900 W. MacArthur Street Shawnee, OK US 74801 County / Borough / Parish: Pottawatomie County Year listed: 1975 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event/ Architecture-Engineering Periods of significance: 1900-1924 Historic function: Education Current function: Education Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/20/2017 The Snowdog visited it