<<=== John Allan Ahlers was uniquely prepared to undertake the work of enlarging the Juniorate in Esopus.  He had been with the Brothers 1910-1918 and was familiar with the training system for candidates for the Brotherhood.  Furthermore, he knew the tradition in the Brothers of doing their own construction using skilled outside labor only when these skills did not exist among the Brothers.  He was friendly with Brother Francis Xavier, who had acted as project manager & general contractor to build a small gymnasium in Poughkeepsie.  Brother Francis was a year ahead of John in the Brothers' training system, and they maintained their friendship through the years.

photo received 26 March 2006 from Dean Wagner and  Stefan Goodwin of Baltimore MD

<<=== In 1949-1954 the English Village was enlarged to handle triple the number of students and free the space in the original Village. John Ahlers designed the work in two stages.  The first stage was to construct new buildings.  The functions were transferred to the new construction.  The original Village buildings were enhanced, providing more useable space, but always consistent with the original architecture of Carrère & Hastings.

photo  30 August 2001 by Victor VanCarpels

Except for the main gymnasium and stage, the additions directly north of the English village were kept to one story and remain unseen when the village is viewed from the south. The photo above shows the main gymnasium, while the photo at left shows the one story dormitory ===>>

photo taken 30 August 2001 Victor VanCarpels

<<=== The new gym is too large to remain totally hidden from the interior of the English Village, but only the upper roof can be seen from within the village.

photo 30 August 2001 by Rich Foy 

The gymnasium has space for three full size basketball courts as well as a permanent stage ===>> 

photo 30 August 2001 by Rich Foy 

<<=== Additions to the side of the gym provided  space for recreation and meeting rooms.

  photo  30 August 2001 Victor VanCarpels 

Offices were tacked onto the north section of the village.  This required closing the formerly open archway leading to the abandoned quarry and water pump house on the Hudson ===>>

photo  30 august 2001 by R Foy

<<===The plain brick stands in humble contrast to the stately quarried rock and the handsome tower of the original buildings.

photo taken 30 august 2001 Victor VanCarpels 

During the renovations the three original garage bays in the Village were converted into kitchens and hallways.  A free standing six bay garage was built west of the English Village and north of the Pratt house. ===>>

photo taken 30 august 2001 by Rich Foy

<<=== From this perspective, it looks like the garage is attached to the Pratt house, but there is a 30 foot space separating the buildings.

photo taken 30 august 2001 by Rich Foy

 
Bro Stephen Kappes  May 2006

<<===Ahlers  designed several churches and chapels in the Baltimore area.  In Esopus he chose to convert the Payne-era electric generating station and later gym into a chapel.  The conversion occurred around 1955, before Vatican II, so the altar was set against the end wall and an altar rail was installed.

<<===Ahlers  retained the original interior shape, but installed wood paneling and wood pews.  He also constructed a choir loft at the back end; this has since been closed off for archival storage.

A small door at the altar end was closed off, two large windows were replaced with stained glass designed by Ahlers.  Since Vatican II, the altar rail disappeared and the altar was turned around to face the people. ===>>

Bro Stephen Kappes  May 2006

The stained glass in the windows may have not been in the original design.  They were donated in later years.  ===>>

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006

Bro Stephen Kappes  May 2006

<<===  Tables are placed in the space when it is used for discussion groups.  The original pews are returned to the chapel during the summer camps.  Note stained glass forming a wall of the Champagnat alcove.

 

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006

<<=== The original pews are installed for the summer camp programs.  This view is close to the original design, except that the choir loft has been closed in.

 A large door in the center side wall was used to design an alcove honoring then Blessed and now Saint Champagnat.  It is now used as a repository for the Blessed Sacrament.  The alcove  was financed by a gift from a former Marist Brother. ===>>

Bro Stephen Kappes  May 2006

The gift enabled Ahlers to use stone for the exterior of the alcove.  This made it consistent with the original construction.  ===>>

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006

<<=== windows constituting the sides of the Champagnat Alcove may well have been designed by Ahlers.  They depict important events in the life of Champagnat.===>>

photos Rich Foy 1 July 2006

The original porch overhang outside the auto garages was closed in and transformed into a hallway.  Here a shy volunteer worker tries to avoid the camera. ===>>

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006
 

The three garage doors were closed in with glass block.  The hallway led to the offices in the new addition tacked on to the original Village building at its north end. ===>>

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006
 

<<=== The interior of the garage space was converted to a kitchen to handle 200-300 persons.  The first section was stoves, backed by ovens.

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006

<<=== The second section was for refrigeration and food preparation.  Here Brother Michael Williams, a summer volunteer from Marist College, prepares a salad.

Designed as a carriage house for Oliver Payne, the space was used first for dormitory and later for indoor recreation.  Ahlers renovated it into a pleasant dining hall. ===>>

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006

The large window replaced the original door for entry and exit of the carriages. ===>>

photo Rich Foy 1 July 2006