Background Prior to the establishment of St. Gregory, high-school and undergraduate-aged men discerning a vocation to the priesthood studied at the various campuses of the major seminary of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Mount Saint Mary of the West. Following the statements of the
Third Council of Baltimore that independent, separate preparatory seminaries were preferred, as well as the reopening of Mt. St. Mary's following the diocesan financial crisis, discussion of the creation of a dedicated preparatory seminary resumed. In 1887, William Henry Elder decided to pursue the creation of a minor seminary. Two years later, Elder gave permission to
John Albrinck, Bernard Engbers, and a number of other priests of the Archdiocese who had been advocating for a minor seminary since 1873 to begin the formation of what would become St. Gregory. The institution was named for its patron,
Pope Gregory the Great.
Mount Washington campus In the summer of 1890, a 57-acre plot of land in
Mount Washington was purchased by Albrinck under the instruction of Elder for $5,625 and construction on a building immediately begun, with hopes of classes being held in the structure in the fall. By the fall of 1891, the brick building constructed under the supervision of Louis Picket was completed and ready for students. It was dedicated and hosted its first day of classes on September 8, 1891, with an enrollment of 28 students. Increasing enrollment required the expansion of the building, with the building of a north wing in 1892, a gymnasium in 1893, and a south wing housing dormitories, a study hall, laboratory space, and a chapel in 1895. In early 1904, due to the cost of maintaining two separate seminary campuses straining already-stressed diocesan finances, the Mt. St. Mary complex in
Price Hill was sold to the
Sisters of the Good Shepherd for an orphanage, and plans to add on to the St. Gregory site to house the graduate-level students were made. This plan was altered into the existing Mt. Washington campus housing the major seminary of Mt. St. Marys, with the St. Gregory preparatory program being made a day school at another site following a survey of the priests of the archdiocese. This was despite the formal written opposition of the faculty of St. Gregory. This transition allowed students to live with their families, or with host families in the city if students came from a significant distance to attend classes, which in turn drastically decreased tuition costs. While plans were made to construct a new college building at the recently acquired diocesan property in
Norwood once sufficient money was available, the lease of the Perin property expired and the seminary was closed on June 27, 1907. Also contributing to the closure was low enrollment due parents being hesitant to entrust their boys to host families. However, this closure was not meant to be permanent. In the meantime, archbishop
Henry Moeller instructed young men who were interested in preparing for major seminary to attend either
Xavier University or the
University of Dayton, being against the idea of merging the institution for preparatory seminarians with that for students of graduate-level theology. On September 17, 1923, the institution resumed classes with 82 students in philosophical classes and 18 in the classical course. This was despite objections from clergy of Cincinnati, who were expecting the minor seminary to move to the more urban, less spacious Norwood campus. 17 additional acres of land adjoining the southern portion of the property were purchased and construction began in November 1927. The new building, the oldest portion of the existing structure, contained both faculty and student housing, classrooms, an infirmary, gymnasium, as well as a convent wing for the
Sisters of the Precious Blood who took care of domestic work for the seminary. Construction on the
Lombard-style granite high school wing was performed by Joseph Neyer, the first stage of a building that was planned to have a matching wing for the college department, joined in the middle by a chapel. The new wing, costing over $1,000,000 was dedicated by Archbishop
John McNicholas on October 6, 1929, with a crowd of 10,000 spectators.
Incorporation into the Athenaeum of Ohio In September 1928, St. Gregory, along with Mt. St. Mary and the newly founded Teacher's College of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, was incorporated into the
Athenaeum of Ohio, an entity created to oversee the educational endeavors of the Archdiocese. This was due in part to new teacher certification requirements issued by the
Ohio Department of Education that same year. In 1931, the high school department was certified as "the equivalent of a Public High School of the First Grade and as such merits ... recognition."
Planned expansion and 1956 Good Friday fire In July 1952, Archbishop
Karl Alter announced plans to complete the planned second wing of St, Gregory and renovate the existing 1890 building, in conjunction with major renovations at St. Peter In Chains Cathedral. Growth in enrollment at St. Gregory had resulted in acute overcrowding, especially in the chapel. When the original worship space had been outgrown, multiple classrooms had been merged and a
sacristy made of canvas tarping. The overall arrangement was described as "unchurchly". Dining facilities as well were especially overcrowded. Over 10,000 volumes of the classical library of the seminary and faculty, as well as the chapel and kitchen, were destroyed by the 20-hour fire. The long duration was in part because of low water pressure in fire hydrants in the area.
Chapel of St. Gregory and rebuilding Alter announced that the already-planned expansion project would be accelerated due to the fire, a temporary brick building serving as an interim cafeteria was built where the south wing of the old building had stood before the blaze. This building is now the Bartlett Pastoral Center at Mt. St. Mary. Ground was broken by Alter for a new chapel that would house a dining hall and kitchen in its basement in October 1956. The cornerstone of the new chapel was set on September 8, 1961, and the building was occupied a year later. Also exhibited in the atrium is the only work of
Juan de las Roelas in the western hemisphere, his rendition of the
Liberation of St. Peter. Both paintings remain there to this day. Above the main entrance and at the right-hand altar are mosaics by Vatican artisans, featuring the
Pietà and the
Blessed Virgin Mary. The chapel itself was designed by William R. Perry in the
Italo-Byzantine style, drawing inspiration from the
Basilica Ursiana and
San Giovanni Evangelista, both in
Ravenna. Featured prominently are
Pope Gregory I, the patron of the chapel,
Francis de Sales, the primary patron of the archdiocese, and
Robert Bellarmine, a secondary patron of the archdiocese. The new wing was blessed and the altar in the chapel of St. Gregory was consecrated on May 25, 1963, by Archbishop Alter in the presence of
Egidio Vagnozzi, then-
Apostolic Delegate to the United States. The chapel, with a capacity for 500, was formally consecrated by Cardinal
Albert Meyer on August 27, 1963. Estimates for the cost of the expansion program of 1955-1963 exceed five million dollars. In July 1979, it was announced that St. Gregory would close, with remaining students transferring to the college program of the
Pontifical College Josephinum in
Worthington, Ohio. The last class of 11 students graduated from St. Gregory on May 16, 1980. Around the time of the closing of the seminary, officials in
Anderson Township expressed interest in turning the soon-vacant building into a hospital or nursing home. However, the Norwood campus of Mt. St. Mary had also fallen into disrepair at this time, and renovations would have cost over a million dollars. Additionally, a feasibility study found that the physical campus and versatility of the property were preferable to the Norwood campus. This led to the major seminary being moved to the Mount Washington campus in September 1981 following extensive remodeling. The Norwood site now houses the
Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center. The Lay Pastoral Ministry and
permanent diaconate programs, the other institutions remaining under the control of the Athenaeum, also moved to the campus. The original 1890 building, then called Fenwick Hall and being used for faculty housing, was demolished in June 1981 due to concerns regarding energy efficiency. == Student life and extracurriculars ==