Building Notre Dame’s McKenna Hall: A Journey of Faith and Bricks
Growing up Catholic and Irish American in the central United States tends to make one aware of the University of Notre Dame. More than a few of my family members are fans of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame! (Where the nickname of Fighting Irish came from when the school was founded by French Missionaries is a story for another time.).
In February, a coworker who is an alumnus of Notre Dame sent me a text with a link to an admissions article with beautiful pictures of a LEGO build of McKenna Hall—the University of Notre Dame’s “Main Building.” The MOC was a commission piece by University alumni Father Bob Simon. Over the next few weeks, Fr. Simon and I shared some delightful emails about this build and his previous MOC of the Vatican (St Peter’s Square and Basilica).
Fr. Simon and McKenna Hall: Photo by Mr. Rooney of ND Development office
Fr. Simon wrote a beautiful response to my question more in essay form, so I’m going to let his response stand alone without my questions in the way, for the most part, with a little clarification on some gold leaf when we get there. Please enjoy.
Building Bricks and Communities
My name is Fr. Bob Simon. I am a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. I have been a priest for 33 years and serve as the pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Brodheadsville. I have loved LEGO and wanted to be a priest since the age of five! I’m living the dream!
Fr. Simon’s boyhood Vatican build - from Fr Simon
As a boy who wanted to be a priest, one of my favorite things to build were churches. Building those churches gave me some early experiences in contemplating sacred architecture, beauty, and the Mass. I can now recognize a prayerful dimension to those quiet moments building and playing with those churches.
When Pope Paul VI died in the summer of 1978 and the world was focused on his funeral and the conclave that elected Pope John Paul I, I built a LEGO Vatican. I remember it as my greatest childhood build. It is the inspiration for my first large-scale adult build, a 500,000-piece MOC of St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square.
Possibly a Phone similar to the one Fr. Simon was gifted
By the time I entered seminary at 17, all my LEGO bricks had been put in storage. When I arrived at my first assignment as a new young priest, I brought with me a LEGO-compatible phone. One of the cathedral staff members took notice and convinced the staff to give me a LEGO train for my first Christmas as a priest to put under my Christmas tree.
Over the next several years I collected a few more sets and brought some LEGO out of storage to create a small village. When the LEGO modular buildings appeared, I felt I “needed” them under my Christmas tree. I heard about BrickFair Virginia and decided to attend in 2013. I loved it and knew I wanted to revisit my greatest childhood build of the Vatican.
Contemplation and Creativity
I spent ten months building my LEGO Vatican MOC. I built it for BrickFair Virginia 2015. It was not only a fan favorite at the event but garnered attention beyond my imagining. For a few months, I was kept busy with interviews, and it was displayed for six months at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Most recently, it was displayed for three years in Poland. It can now be seen in my parish’s church hall.
Fr. Simon and his Saint Peter’s Square and basilica Moc: Photo by Darryl Moran
While building this piece, I found myself praying while building. One night, I was called to the home of a dying parishioner to administer the Anointing of the Sick. Returning home around 11:30 pm, I felt I needed to relax before going to sleep. I went to my LEGO room and started to build. As I built, I decided to pray for my parishioner, his wife, and his family. As I continued building, I found myself praying as I built more and more. Praying helped fill the time spent building the tedious, repetitive parts that needed to be replicated dozens of times, such as the capitals of columns. Eventually, I connected my praying while I built to the Catholic tradition.
Saint Peter’s Square and basilica: Photo by Darryl Moran
As a tool to deal with distractions, St. Anthony of Egypt, an early hermit, said that he would weave baskets while he prayed to keep his hands busy while his mind and heart were elsewhere in prayer. I also realized that contemplating the design of Michelangelo and Bernini was like contemplating the mysteries of the Rosary. I found spiritual lessons and beauty in the as the artistic vision became clear.
One day, as I was building and praying, I found myself exclaiming to God: “You are relentless; You want this time too to be offered to You.” Early on in my interviews, a writer from my local newspaper challenged me to never leave this aspect out of my experience from future interviews. He urged me to recognize that contemplation is proper to any true artistic experience.
Fr. Simon Prayerfully laying down bricks! Photo by Shannon Rooney of ND Admissions office
I know from my philosophy studies as a seminarian at the Jesuit University of Scranton that the Philosopher Josef Pieper made connections between leisure, play, contemplation, and God’s creative work. I also realized how we all, especially our young, desperately need leisure and play that takes us from staring at screens to creating with our hands.
(Interviewer’s Note: If you’re interested in the links between creativity and spirituality, check out this wonderful article on Creativity and the Ignatian Spirit. I have it printed and hung in my LEGO room. St. Ignatius of Loyola is the founder of the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits.)
Creating McKenna Hall in LEGO
The University of Notre Dame, my alma mater for a Master’s Degree in Liturgy, was doing a story on my LEGO Vatican in January 2020. The University’s Development Office contacted me to commission a LEGO build of the iconic Main Building with its Golden Dome. I immediately responded that I had been waiting my whole life to do this build!
From our first conversation, the university made clear that it wanted the statue of Mary on top of the dome and the statue of the Sacred Heart in the “God Quad” below to be replicas created to scale on a 3D printer. They also wanted the LEGO bricks of the dome to be covered in genuine gold leaf, just as the actual dome is.
Gold Leafed Dome and Mary statute: Photo by Mr. Rooney of ND Development office
I have about 15 years of experience studying traditional Christian iconography and icon painting. I have used gold leaf and have experience applying it to painted panels. My greatest fears with this build were focused on whether I could successfully gild LEGO bricks. I couldn’t find any solid online resources for gold-leafing LEGO bricks or plastic in general.
In the end, the task was easier than I ever could have imagined. A parishioner of mine, a professional artist, spent a few hours with me doing the gold leaf work together. We used a water-based size that we thinly brushed on the LEGO bricks. When it had dried and still had a tacky quality, we delicately applied the 3” x 3” butterfly wing thin sheets of 24K gold using brushes. The gold was later burnished with cotton balls.
View fullsize
Raw Gold Leaf View fullsize
See how thin it is!
(Interviewer’s Note: I asked Fr. Simon for some clarification here as his use of the word “size” didn’t make sense to me. He explained that size refers to an adhesive used to attach the metal leaf to a surface for gilding. For anyone who has complained about applying stickers on sets, it sounds like we all need to try gold-leafing some bricks for some perspective! Now, back to Fr. Simon.)
Photo by Mr. Rooney of ND Development office
The McKenna Hall Notre Dame build was filled with challenges. The design process had many challenges with many twists and turns, from the gilding of the Gold Dome to creating the large, complicated Second Empire-style roof. Despite some LEGO friends telling me I would never pull the roof off using LEGO slopes, I was bound and determined and am very happy with the results.
The immensity of the building astounded me. There are over 300 windows in the building. An iconic feature of the majority of the windows are wood blinds inside. I used dark tan ladders often found on railroad cars to represent them. They were a difficult piece to find, and I needed over 2,000 of them! The same problem occurred when I chose to use LEGO plant flower stem with stud elements to do the grass of the lush “God Quad,” not realizing the piece was discontinued in 2017.
Fr. Jenkins, the President of the University on the steps. His executive council is portrayed nearby: Photo by Mr. Rooney of ND Development office
Welcome to All
The Notre Dame build has been incredibly rewarding as I meet countless students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors on campus enjoying the MOC. It was rewarding that its home is in McKenna Hall, which is home to Admissions and Financial Aid and invites incoming students to look closer at a building that the Notre Dame family and I love very much.
I found it rewarding to contemplate the artistic and spiritual vision of University founder Fr. Edward Sorin. The building is in the form of a cross with the largest of arms extended in a great embrace. The cross shaped building is penetrated with light. Sorin insisted on the gold dome with the statue of Mary so that anyone on campus would know clearly that the Mother of God was the sole reason for the University’s every success.
Photo by Mr. Rooney of ND Development office
While I feel God gave me a gift for replicating large architectural landmarks in LEGO (you embrace whatever gifts are yours), a lot of the joy in both builds has been from the minifigures and fun details. St. Peter’s Square is a “here comes everyone” representation in the embrace of the colonnade with an Elvis impersonator and a nun with a selfie stick. The Notre Dame build has squirrels, a bicycle in a tree, a Grubhub robot, and a marriage proposal; all are frequent sights on campus.
I completed the Notre Dame build in the summer of 2023 and felt I needed a break from working on a large build. I don’t have another large LEGO project in mind right now, but I can’t imagine my life without priesthood or LEGO.
Fr. Simon’s Favorite bartender, Murf is shown holding a can of soda, and the Dean of the Law School: Photo by Mr. Rooney of ND Development office
Michael J: Thank you for sharing that beautiful reflection on faith and building. To close this interview, I’m curious if you have a favorite LEGO piece?
Fr. Simon: As a lover of large monumental buildings, my favorite LEGO piece is the 1x2 modified plate with door rail. I love its usefulness in creating elegant architectural detail.
Would you ever gild your own LEGO bricks? Let us know in the comments below.
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