Renovations of Byrne Hall begin Sept. 14

Published: September 8, 2026

Renovations of Byrne Hall on the St. John Catholic Center campus in Little Rock will begin Sept. 14, thanks largely to support from CASA donors. The renovation will provide more meeting, office and storage space on campus. The building will include a warming kitchen for preparing and serving food.

While renovations are ongoing, the Harrison Street entrance to the campus will be closed. During the yearlong construction, everyone will enter through the main gate on N. Tyler Street. (See area, highlighted in yellow, that is closed on the map.)

As Bishop Anthony B. Taylor noted in his recorded CASA homily delivered Feb. 7-8, “For years, we simply haven’t had enough space to accommodate all requests from groups for retreats, conferences and meeting spaces. This renovation will give us much-needed additional space at an estimated cost of $5 million. Any of you who have been inside that building in its current state know how badly this 110-year-old building is in need of a drastic overhaul.”

The two-story marble, granite and brick building, named for the first diocese’s bishop, Bishop Andrew Byrne, was built in 1916. Frank M. Blaisdell, who also designed many parks and gardens in Arkansas and throughout the country, including the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol, designed the building, the front gate and the two other original buildings, all in Collegiate Gothic or Gothic Revival style.

Byrne Hall was the second building built when Little Rock College and St. John Seminary welcomed their first students. Known as the “service building,” it was used as a refectory for seminarians attending St. John Seminary. Sisters of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro staffed the kitchen and lived on the second floor.

After the seminary closed and diocesan offices moved to the campus, Byrne Hall served as a dining hall for diocesan staff and retreats. The dining halls featured two hand-carved sideboards, which are now located in the campus dining hall.

In 1995, the building was partially renovated and leased to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Christopher Homes of Arkansas, a housing ministry for the elderly and handicapped. In 2017, a new roof and gutters were installed. In 2024, the symphony moved to its permanent location in downtown Little Rock, and Christopher Homes moved its offices to Sherwood.

The building has two notable features. It is the only building on campus with stone gargoyles, which are symbolic guardians to ward off evil. The basement once housed a seismic station where seminarians monitored the New Madrid fault for St. Louis University.