Named after Peter and Peg D’Angelo and their family, who both serve as esteemed alumni and longstanding benefactors of St. John’s University, the D’Angelo Center houses 14 classrooms, 6 seminar rooms, student recreation and entertainment space, a Starbucks Café and full-service cafeteria, student organization offices, a Board Room, spacious lobby/living room amenities and banquet facilities.
Since its grand opening in December 2009, the four-story, 127,000-square-foot D’Angelo Center has become the most popular hub of student life on the Queens campus. Rising above a new quadrangle, the Center’s Tudor styling, arched windows and 144-foot tower echo St. John's original buildings. The entire building is modeled after the Great Hall at Ellis Island, reflecting the University’s founding as a metropolitan institution in service to the children of immigrants of New York City. The large windows and high ceilings mirror those of the Great Hall. The brick-and-stone front overlooks benches and pathways where students gather.
Through the masterful work of industry leaders Gensler Architecture and FJ Sciame Construction Company Inc., this state-of-the-art facility has become a reality and offers unique features that include a symbolic torch sculpture which sits atop a 144 foot tower, the highest point of any University structure on campus. The iconic flame, which connects metaphorically to both the eternal light of knowledge and Christian theology, honors the University as a beacon of higher learning and its historically Catholic roots. Joseph Jaroff, the lead designer and founder of Jaroff Design & Mison Concepts, Inc. was commissioned by the University for this special project.