The university Board of Directors approved $10 million dollars last month for a new retreat center for campus ministry programs, which the university said could be ready for use by 2008.

Funding for the 56-acre tract of land in the Blue Ridge ountains in Clarke County, Va., which the university purchased last year, was provided through a pledge from Arthur Calcagnini Jr. (CAS ’54), a member of the board. The center will be named the Calcagnini Contemplative Center.

University officials estimate the center’s total construction budget – including the cost of the land – to be $5.3 million. The pledge will cover these costs and provide the center with an endowment for future expenses, according to a university press release issued Monday.

Currently, the university’s three dozen retreat programs rent different locations in the D.C. area. ESCAPE, a program designed for first-year students, rents a facility near Hagerstown, d., while AGAPE, a popular Catholic retreat for upperclassmen, uses a center in Germantown, Md.

Fr. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry, said that Calcagnini felt strongly that Georgetown’s retreat programs should have their own center.

While the center will be used primarily by ESCAPE, other groups run by the Office of Campus Ministry will also enjoy the new facilities, Boroughs said.

The donation is the second significant contribution that the Calcagnini family has made to Georgetown’s retreat programs in recent years. In 1996, the family gave $1.5 million to endow ESCAPE, the release said.

“ESCAPE will use the whole center whenever it is there, but some of our smaller retreats could function jointly with the possibility of some interaction if desired,” Boroughs said.

He added that retreats for faculty and staff may also use the center when it is not being used for student programs.

While the center offers a new home to Georgetown’s existing programs, Catherine Heinhold, coordinator for Georgetown’s Catholic retreats, said that the university does not plan to create any new retreat programs.

“Adding programs would require more staff and more resources,” she said. “The new center is a way of continuing our programs and using our resources better.”

Samantha Buchan (GRD ’08), who served as ESCAPE’s co-director for three years until the spring, said that the new center’s location, overlooking the Shenandoah Valley and bordered by the Appalachian Trail, is ideal for Georgetown’s retreat programs.

“The new property is absolutely perfect,” she said. “It is the most picturesque setting.”

Meredith Ponder (COL ’09), who participated in the ESCAPE retreat as a freshman last year, said that she had no complaints with the facilities currently used by the program, but thinks the program will benefit from having its own center.

“I think it’s an excellent idea,” she said. “Building the new center will give more students the opportunity to experience the renewal that comes from participating in a retreat.”