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New Rochelle – On Saturday, October 27, Iona College will commence the first phase of construction on Ryan Library, thanks to $9.14 million in cash that has been raised to date by Visions of Excellence: The Campaign for Iona’s Library. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. in Memorial Park on the Iona campus. Pat Martin, one of three million-dollar donors to the campaign, will attend, along with Jim Hynes, who donated the $10 million for the Hynes Athletics Center.

Publicly launched in December 2006, the goal of Visions of Excellence is to fund a new library entrance facing North Avenue (Phase I) and a two-story, 14,000 square foot addition to the building (Phase II). Once completed, the library will house an expanded print collection, a multimedia seminar room, an enlarged reading room, six group meeting rooms, increased individual study space, a technology resource center and a two-story atrium. The campaign aims to raise another $4 million towards the library project, including $1.7 million expected from a New York State grant. Phase II of construction is projected to begin immediately following the completion of Phase I (approximately a year) if funds are available.

Donors’ early payments on campaign pledges have enabled Phase I of the library project to begin sooner than originally planned. When the early start to the construction was announced in the spring, Br. Liguori said, “I’m delighted to once again witness the generosity of our alumni in meeting the needs of the College and am pleased by how quickly their donations will be transformed into brick and mortar. A renovated and expanded library is necessary to ensure that Iona will continue to meet the research and technology needs of our students and faculty well into the future.”
In conjunction with the New Rochelle Streetscape project, the renovated and expanded library will enhance the appearance of the surrounding North Avenue neighborhood, dubbed the “college district.” The college’s previous campaign, which closed in December 2004, funded a new student union and athletics center on campus.

Founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, Iona College is a private, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of American Catholic higher education. Iona, currently listed in the US News and World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges 2008" and The Princeton Review's Best Northeastern Colleges 2008 edition, offers undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science, and business administration, as well as master of arts, master of science and master of business administration degrees and numerous post-graduate certificate programs.

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For questions or more information please contact:
Cecilia Donohoe
Public Relations Office
Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801
tel: (914) 633-2005 fax: (914) 637-2711
cdonohoe@iona.edu

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