Father Cornelius Corkery, our fifth Pastor, worked tirelessly during his brief time at St. Edward, earning him the nickname "The Building Pastor." Under his direction, the main school building added a third floor in 1951, and ground was broken for a new school building at the southeast corner of Lowell and Sunnyside. 

This building would for decades be known as the Minim School, because it houses the lower grades and the smallest students. Today, it is known as the Springfield Dominican Learning Center (DLC for short), officially named as such in 2020 in honor of the many Dominican sisters who selflessly served St. Edward so well for over a century. The DLC remains the site of our Early Childhood Education Program. It also features our gym, complete with a stage and a working kitchen, which has served as a social hub for parish events, both school and non-school related. Because of this central role in the parish, the gym itself received a name: Buckley Hall (named for Rev. Albert J. Buckley, who served as our seventh Pastor, 1967-1981). 

Father Corkery, our Building Pastor, did not only focus his ambitious building plans on the school. He also enlarged the Rectory by adding a Pastor's residence and constructed a new, four-car garage below this addition. 
 
To help pay for all of this construction, St. Edward organized its first Fall Festival in November of 1953. This immediately became a big annual event for the parish. Over the decades, it has gone by many names, and today is known as The Harvest Bash, celebrated on the first Saturday of October. Unfortunately, Father Corkery did not live long enough to see all of this work completed, as he died on April 20, 1955. 

Installed in 1955 as our sixth Pastor, Rt. Rev. Monsignor John W. Schmid of Quigley Preparatory Seminary led St. Edward until 1967. In large part, he oversaw the realization of Father Corkery's vision. During his tenure, the Minim School was completed and dedicated in 1956, the original 1909 school was demolished, and the old school site was converted into the current parking lot. Also under Msgr. Schmid's direction, the open-air, columned walkway connecting the Rectory to the Church was replaced by an enclosed structure in 1962. This new connection contained a Baptistry (now a chapel called the Oratory of the Blessed Trinity), parish offices, conference rooms, a library, and additional apartments for priests. As school enrollment continued to grow throughout the 1960s -peaking at 1,336 in 1966- six mobile classrooms were built to accommodate the student population. By the end of Msgr. Schmid's term as Pastor in 1967, St. Edward's second and final phase of campus expansion had been completed.