After some problematic negotiations, the Columbans finally managed to buy the Bellevue campus in mid-1921, with plans to construct a seminary there.
Archbishop Jeremiah J. Harty of Omaha led a ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of the Columban seminary on September 8, 1921, and construction began in earnest.
The Columbans were now on their way to a permanent facility for recruiting seminarians and expanding vocations in the United States.
