Former church becomes concert hall

DE PERE - After spreading music for more than 50 years in northeast Wisconsin, St. Norbert College’s "Music Man" has a new place to perform.

The former St. Boniface Church has been remodeled into a music hall renamed for Dudley Birder, a music professor at St. Norbert since 1958. It was dedicated in a private ceremony Thursday.

"Of course I'm honored, but I'm also a little bit taken back because this has just been my job," Birder said at the ceremony. "I don't know why, I really don't think I deserve all this attention, although I won't say I don't enjoy it."

"My hobby is my profession. Can anybody be luckier than that?"

The $1.7 million remodeling began last summer. In its most recent use, the church building had been home to the campus's bookstore for 11 years.

• Click here to see photos of the building through the years

The school's president said a music hall was needed - and needed to be named for Birder.

The hall will be used for rehearsal, but will also seat up to 200 for concerts and lectures.