The Catholic University of America - Campus

Campus

See also: List of buildings at The Catholic University of America

The CUA campus is in the residential community of Brookland in Northeast Washington; its main entrance is 620 Michigan Ave., NE. The campus is bound by Michigan Avenue to the south, North Capitol Street to the west, Hawaii Avenue to the north, and John McCormick Road to the east. It is three miles (5 km) north of the Capitol building.

The tree-lined campus is 193 acres (0.78 km2). Romanesque and modern design dominate among the university’s 55 major buildings. Between McMahon and Gibbons halls and alongside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception runs The Mall, a large strip of grass that is often the site of kickball games and sunbathers. Conte Circle is in the middle of Centennial Village, a cluster of eight residential houses.

The Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center was opened in the spring of 2003, bringing student dining services, the campus bookstore, student organization offices, an 800-person ballroom, a convenience store, and more student services under one roof. The John K. Mullen Library completed a $6,000,000 renovation in 2004, significantly improving the lighting and aesthetics of the interior and allowing the classical architecture to better shine through.

The Columbus School of Law is on the main campus and is self-contained in its own building with moot courtrooms, a library, chapel, classrooms, and offices. On the Pryzbyla Center side of the building is the Law School Lawn, where the ultimate Frisbee team can often be found. Theological College, the United States's national seminary, is located across Michigan Avenue from the main campus and sits between the Dominican House of Studies, a seminary for the Order of Preachers, and offices for the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Trinity Washington University is also near the university and is a quarter mile south along Michigan Avenue.

In April 2004, the University purchased 49 acres (200,000 m2) of land from the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The parcel is the largest plot of open space in the District and makes CUA the largest university in D.C. by land area. There are currently no plans for the parcel other than to secure the property for future growth.

In 2007, the University unveiled plans to expand the campus by adding three new dorms to the north side of campus. The first of these dorms, the seven-story tall Opus Hall, houses 420 upper-class students, making it the largest dorm on campus. The three new dorms, when built, will replace the two now demolished dorms on the south side of campus, Conaty and Spellman. Although dorms are coeducational with men and women living in the same buildings, this is being phased out beginning in the fall of 2011 with a return to single-sex dorms.

The Campus is served by the Brookland-CUA station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro. Union Station, Capitol Hill, and the Smithsonian museums are only a few minutes' ride away. Near campus are the offices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land.