A ceremonial groundbreaking was held at Montserrat for the college's first ever new building — a four-house student village complex— to be ready for occupancy by Fall of '09. Pictured are members of the Catalyst Campaign Committee from left, Co-Chair Trustee Lee Dellicker, Co-Chair William Wasserman, Montserrat President Helena J. Sturnick, Ph.D., Chair Steve Dodge and Beverly Mayor William F. Scanlon, Jr.

The Village will house 78 students and replace three, old and inefficient smaller multi-family homes. Designed by the architectural firm of Siemasko + Verbridge, and being constructed by the design-build firm of Windover Development, the Village will be an environmentally green building.

The Catalyst Campaign for Montserrat, which seeks to raise $8 million to fund the project, is already at 40% with slightly more than $3 million in gifts and pledges in hand.

At the groundbreaking, Beverly Mayor William Scanlon said, "There is no more important enterprise to this city right now than Montserrat College of Art and this project. Montserrat is good for Beverly and vice-versa. I am pleased to see this project moving forward."