Students of Siena College may only know their campus’s Grotto from the noise of construction early in the morning.
But now that construction is complete on the project 15 years in the making, the Grotto is open for students and community members.
Siena held the dedication ceremony for the Grotto on Sunday, Oct. 19, when dozens of people, students, faculty and onlookers gathered to see the final product and thank those who devoted their time, talent and money to complete it.
“People who worked on it were thanked,” said Father Larry Anderson, one of Siena’s pastors. “The people who donated funds, so it could happen. The former Bishop of Albany, Howard Hubbard, blessed it. And the former president came back, as well as the interim.”
The Grotto, a stone structure made from locally sourced materials, holds candles for people to light and seating for prayer. It ties into the college’s Catholic and Franciscan history, as it holds statues of Mary and several saints, including the one for which the Siena was named after, St. Bernadine of Siena.
Inspiration for the Grotto came from the renowned Marian Shrine in Lourdes, France, where, Anderson said, people continue to go for healing, as well as the Grotto on the Notre Dame campus.
“A lot of colleges continue to build grottos for staff and students where they can pray, where people need healing,” Anderson said.
The idea for the project began with Siena faculty member John Sise, whose visits to Lourdes and the Notre Dame campus made him want to see a similar structure on the Siena campus.
“His daughter went to Notre Dame,” said Anderson. “He said how it had an effect on the college.”
The architects responsible for the Grotto’s design came from Saratoga Associates. They completed the design in March, and construction on the Grotto began right after the class of 2014 graduated in May. Construction continued through the summer until it was finally completed in mid October.
For months, all of the Siena students knew of the Grotto was the construction noise outside of their dorm windows, but after leaving for the Columbus Day weekend, they came back to find the structure complete. Anderson said it may take some time for students to become familiar with the Grotto.
“They’re just coming back. They know there’s a structure there and they’ve walked by it, but we have to give them an idea of what it is,” said Anderson.
Anderson said that athletic teams and coaches at Notre Dame have been known to meet at their campus’s Grotto before each game, and that is what he hopes is in store for Siena. Next week, he will be leading a blessing for the student athletes at the Grotto before their games.
“This isn’t something you do every day,” Anderson said. “It’s very specialized. It’s a unique structure and a gathering area. Every time I walk back there, there are kids lighting candles, or meeting to gather there and pray. We are slowly introducing it into the student community.”
