The largest buildings, the library and the student union, are nothing short of amazing: rich in detail, generous in space and advanced in technology. The library, friendly and intimate despite its 96,000 square feet of space, includes study areas and lounges around the central stacks. The student union, of similar size, shelters a dining hall that rivals many upscale restaurants in its handsome decor and functionality. A café in the courtyard and a terrace on the lake, as well as various meeting spaces, complete the design.

Handsome and tranquil as the campus is, nothing can match the impact of the Oratory on the visitor. Incomplete during my first visit, it was hard to read during a noisy hard-hat tour, but clearly impressive. My second visit, however, revealed a substantially complete and functional building. In fact, a lecture/demonstration of Gregorian chanting was underway when I entered, bathing me in an acoustical wash of rich sound as the music floated up to massive steel arches soaring 100 feet high over a nave of nearly 25,000 square feet. A balcony over the west portal will eventually hold a large pipe organ and choir stalls near the rose window; an altar will dominate the east wall. No doubt about it, this is a major piece of contemporary religious architecture, also by the Cannon firm.

At completion, Ave Maria will hold 11,000 dwelling units, 1.3 million square feet of commercial space and 6,000 students within 5,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land, all served by roads, streets and other infrastructure services that meet the standards of the Rural Land Stewardship Area model.

Critics are supposed to be open-minded, but I’ll admit I was skeptical about Ave Maria. It was easy to scoff before actually visiting the site, making silly comments about the name of the place and the amount of pizza that financed it. But Ave Maria was a revelation. I’m grateful I made the journey and pleased to eat my humble (pizza) pie.

Architecture and music critic Richard Storm has won awards for this column from the Florida Magazine Association and South Florida's Society of Professional Journalism.