A new $20 million blessing was officially welcomed to the Grove City College campus Saturday as the school unveiled its newest architectural addition: the Hall of Arts and Letters.

The new building -- designed by Ballinger, a Philadelphia firm -- mirrors much of the architecture on campus. Located at the heart of the school, the three-story, 112,000-square-foot structure houses a 219-seat lecture hall, 40 classrooms, 80 faculty offices, an early education center, curriculum library and language, computer and video production labs.

Alumni, students, faculty, public officials and community members welcomed the new addition with glee.

Dr. John H. Moore, president, said the building will be the home of the Alva J. Calderwood School of Arts and Letters, named after an accomplished Grove City professor of 53 years and dean of 35 years. Calderwood graduated from Grove City College in 1896 and spent much of the remainder of his time teaching and administering there.

"It is only a building," Moore said. "What counts are the people that use it, the faculty and students," he said to a round of applause.

Moore accepted the building, which was presented to him by C. Fred Fetterolf, college trustee and chairman of Alcoa.

Fetterolf said the hall is an example of the college's commitment to academic excellence.

"Grove City has taken on a significant role in higher education. We're becoming almost unique on the plus side in terms of American institutions."

He said the value system of Grove City has not and will not deteriorate. "We will not deviate from what the college has stood for and its principles. This building is a stake in the ground that show that those principles will continue."

Before passing the key to building on to Moore, Fetterolf said that the reality of being inside the building "shows the capability of the college president," adding that Moore was unrelenting when it came to fundraising for the project. Moore is retiring this year.

Moore passed the key on to Dr. William P. Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

"Higher education can thrive without government," Anderson said. He said academics work well in a Christian environment and the building would definitely be used in the name of the Lord.

"Except the Lord build a house, they labor in vain, those who build it," he said.

Thomas Gregg, vice president for operations, said he walked through the building last week and counted 70 students who were inside quietly studying.

The building gives off a magnetic attraction to the school, which draws students in, said William R. Gustafson, Ballinger president and chief executive officer.

Ballinger not only designed the new hall, but also the addition to the Pew Fine Arts Center which was completed last year. Designs are in the works for the future Student Activities Center and Alumni Center, an addition to Carnegie Hall on the lower campus.

In the future the college expects the expansion of the Pew Fine Arts Center and an addition to Carnegie Hall in the new Alumni Center.

The building is rigged with extensive network of advanced technological equipment. Each of the classrooms comes equipped with an array of sophisticated teaching technologies.

The rooms all have projection screens, touch sensitive multi-media control panels, computer stations, DVD players and integrated sound systems.

After the dedication, a 150th birthday toast was offered at the reception by the family of college founder Dr. Isaac Conrad Ketler in his memory. He served as president from 1876 to his death in June 1913. He was hired in 1876 to run the Select School in Pine Grove, now Grove City. That first year, just 13 co-eds received secondary education, but when the school officially became Grove City College by 1884, more than 500 students were enrolled. Today the college has 2,300 students.