November 2008

Cathedral Square . . .urban reNEWal
The intersection of Division and Wealthy in Grand Rapids’ Heartside district was once a non-descript central city corner, home to tired buildings, crumbing concrete surface parking and vacant store fronts. All of that officially changed on a beautiful late summer Tuesday afternoon with the dedication of Cathedral Square, an 11.5-acre urban renewal project bordered on the North by the Cathedral of St. Andrews and on the South by the new 100,000 SF diocesan center. Built from the shell of the former Jobbers Warehouse and on the footprint of Downtown Cleaners, the center provides a centralized home to Catholic ministries, services, charities and schools. It also brings life back to the community by creating a place for culture and community. Besides the diocesan center building, Cathedral Square includes a piazza that connects the Cathedral with Catholic Central High School, St. Andrew’s grade school, and a block long pedestrian garden ringing green into the heart of the Heartside Neighborhood.

Before

After