Groundbreaking at SBU

Ground was broken Thursday on construction of an entryway on the newly named Magnano Centre dining complex at St. Bonaventure University.

The dining facility, which houses Hickey Dining Hall, Café La Verna, the Rathskeller and other dining areas, is being named for Olean businessman and philanthropist Louis Magnano, a major contributor to the university’s ongoing 150th Anniversary Campaign.

A gift of $2,030,000 from Magnano and his wife, Patricia, will fund construction of the new entryway on the northeast corner of the dining facility. The new vestibule will serve as a much-needed weather barrier for the entrance shared by the dining hall and the café, said Philip Winger, associate vice president for facilities at St. Bonaventure.

The Magnano gift also supports the Enchanted Mountain Scholarship fund at the university, which dramatically reduces the tuition for qualifying students in the Southern Tier and northern Pennsylvania. In addition, the gift provides an endowment for annual maintenance of the Magnano Centre as well as support of other university initiatives.

At a reception for the Magnanos in Café La Verna prior to the groundbreaking, Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., lauded the couple for their commitment to projects across the region.

“They are not only patrons of St. Bonaventure University, but they support causes and initiatives throughout the Southern Tier,” said Sr. Margaret, adding one can’t drive through Olean without seeing another Magnano project in the works. “Where there are new and exciting things happening in Olean, Lou’s name is right there,” she said.

Louis Magnano served as a member of the St. Bonaventure University Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2001.

(In the photo, courtesy of St. Bonaventure University, Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., university president; Louis Magnano; Patricia Magnano; John R. McGinley Jr., chairman of the University Board of Trustees, break ground for the new entryway to Magnano Centre.)