Standing in Ottilia Hall, with 16-foot high ceilings above her,  Sister Tonette Sperando can’t help but beam at the history around her in the Benedictine Sisters Sacred Heart Monastery.

The building, built in 1904, features 12-inch thick interior walls to separate the numerous rooms flanking the main hall. Footsteps echo on the hardwood floors, past the large wooden stairway banister, as light flickers through the 10-foot tall original windows.

A star designed in the wooden floor marks the main entrance, a novelty Sister Tonette said the sisters made sure to preserve with some recent floor repairs.

“It’s always been that you would meet at the star, even back when this building was a school,” she said. “It’s even been that way for the sisters, to meet at the star, so that was something we have to save.”

But, it’s not just the history that has Tonette beaming — the heat is also starting to take a toll on this warm Monday morning. With no central air system installed, a handful of window units and large fans fight ceaselessly to cool the massive facility. Despite those efforts, the hallway remains a sticky 90 degrees in the summer.

With the building’s original construction dating back to an era prior to internal plumbing and electricity, Sister Tonette said sisters at the monastery have had to work with what they have. Communal bathroom floors are now raised several inches to allow plumbing for the toilets — creating a dangerous hazard for several sisters, many of which are 70 or 80 years old. After decades of wear even those initial fixes have started to break, leaving just a handful of functional facilities.

Small electrical conduits run along the walls, a patchwork retrofit for plugs and light switches, not needed when lamps and fireplaces originally lit the space. Though the massive rooms are gorgeous, Tonette said the lack of closet space can make them awkward for full time residents.

After making do for more than a century, the sisters are finally making changes.

“We aren’t upgrading, we’re updating,” Sister Tonette said. “We don’t have an elevator here, so 80-and-90-year-olds have to come down flights of stairs right now. We’re going to reuse as much as we can, and preserve as much of that history as possible.”

Nestled just off Convent Road, the Benedictine Sisters’ campus seems to have remained relatively unscathed from the fast-paced city that has grown around it the past century. Over the next few years, that is expected to change.

The sisters are eyeing a three-phase, $8.4 million campaign meant to unify the campus and bring all the facilities up to modern fire and building codes.

The first phase includes renovations to Ottilia Hall, the addition of an elevator and new stairway, converting the unused auditorium into a dining hall, and adding a new kitchen. The sisters infirmary will also be moved from an auxiliary building to Ottilia Hall. During construction, the approximately 35 sisters who live on campus will be relocated to other buildings.

Phase two will bring renovations to the retreat center, which is currently a mish-mash of buildings and converted dormitory rooms. New guest rooms with private bathrooms will be added, along with a new entrance. Some sub-par buildings will be torn down at this time, and resources will be shifted to make use of available space.

The final phase will add two new buildings with 24 bedrooms and bathrooms to the retreat center, and demolish the old Mary Hall.

Work on phase one is set to begin as early as next month.

“We’re consolidating what is essentially wasted space right now,” Sister Elisabeth Meadows said. “We’re talking about a reduction from 107,000-square-feet to 76,000-square-feet. But, we’ll be making much better use of that space.”

The retreat center is a popular stop for out-of-towners, and serves more than 2,000 people per year.

“People come in and utilize the local shopping and restaurants, and we’re so glad to offer these services to bring people in from all over,” Sister Tonette said.

Some initial demolition at Ottilia Hall is already underway, and Sister Tonette said even more history has come to light as workers dig into the building. Floor boards have been lifted in some corners, to reveal three or four layers of tile and hardwood plastered down decades ago.

When a layer of paint and wallpaper was peeled back in one living space, formerly a classroom, a chalkboard was found underneath — with a lesson plan from 1953 scribbled out and still intact.

“Over the years, the sisters have kept this place in such great shape, and this is just a step forward in that stewardship,” Sister Meadows said.

Sister Tonette recounted a recent leak in a small pottery studio, where sisters had to scramble to save pieces after large exposed steam pipes in the ceiling opened up, and what Sister Mary Adrian McLean had said.

“She said you just look in the eyes of the younger sisters, with soot all over their faces after trying to save as much as they could, and one of the sisters said we just have to do something,” she said. “This is what we have, but what are we leaving to the sisters of the future? If not now, then when?”

Though the sisters are eyeing several updates, Sister Tonette stressed the history and atmosphere will live on — just with some more modern amenities. The sisters even considered adding Wi-fi wireless internet access to the main building, but ran into an unexpected roadblock.

“We tried it a few doors down from my old office, and it just doesn’t seem to work very well with 12-inch walls,” Sister Tonette said with a laugh. “But, we’ll do what we can. This place has been here for over 100 years, and we’re planning for the next 100 years.”

* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.