New York City - On Tuesday, September 13, The General Theological Seminary (GTS) will hold a gala outdoor reception to inaugurate the building of the Desmond Tutu Education Center on its historic campus in the heart of Chelsea. Archbishop Tutu will be present at the reception and will be the preacher at the Festival Eucharist which follows.
The event also marks the beginning of the public phase of the Seminary's "Leaders for the Church" capital campaign, a major effort to preserve and transform the GTS campus through a comprehensive plan of building, conservation and program initiatives. These include construction and programming of the Tutu Center, a $23 million project now being created within three historic buildings along the Tenth Avenue side of the campus. The September 13 celebration begins at 4pm with a gala reception in the Seminary's garden or "close." Presentations from distinguished guests will take place on the Chapel steps at 5pm, followed by the Festival Eucharist at 6pm. Episcopalians from throughout the metropolitan area together with friends of GTS, local neighbors, alumni/ae, the press, and all members of the Seminary community are invited to join in the afternoon celebration.
The first public expression of the revitalization of Chelsea Square, the Tutu Center will provide gracious new facilities for programs in peace and reconciliation, Jewish-Christian studies and relations, continuing education, and Christian spirituality. Established and administered by GTS and named in honor of the Archbishop, who was a visiting professor at the Seminary when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, The facility is scheduled to open in 2007.
Guests attending the September 13 reception will have the chance to study drawings for the new facility and to meet the Center's architects, Beyer Blinder Belle, a firm celebrated for its sensitive yet imaginative revitalization of landmarked sites such as Ellis Island and Grand Central Terminal. GTS already has invested $9 million in renovating its historic buildings, built between 1883 and 1902. In May 2005, the Very Rev. Ward B. Ewing, Dean and President of GTS, led a symbolic fence-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the building program.
from a GTS press release by Bruce Parker