Renovation projects at two Utah Catholic schools

Friday, Jun. 05, 2020

BOUNTIFUL — At St. Olaf Parish and School, a major renovation of the campus and the parking lot is under way. 

The project is the first phase of what the capital campaign committee hopes to accomplish in the coming years. The impetus for the project began in 2009 under then-Principal JoAnn Emery.

“She had a dream and a vision for doing some renovations for the community and an expansion to the school,” said Simon McFall, the current principal. 

Emery’s plans were set aside “for a myriad of reasons,” McFall said, but when he arrived at the school in January 2018, there was what he called “a flickering in the ashes of the phoenix” in the rebirth of the project. 

The capital campaign committee, made up of current and past parents and parishioners, has been meeting every month since his arrival. They considered three driving factors in their plans: honoring the history of the parish and school, addressing infrastructure and utilities deficiencies, and developing a unified campus, McFall said.

“If you stood on our campus, it didn’t feel intentional, it didn’t feel like something that was done with an overview,” he said. 

By October 2018, the committee began to look at designs. The current project involves updating the electrical and gas systems in the school and improving the drainage on the entire campus. 

“All the water coming from the mountains was making its way to the lower part of the school,” pastor Father Andrzej Skrzypiec said.

On March 2 of this year, renovations began.

New parking, including ADA-complaint stalls, was installed for both the school and the church. The traffic flow through the campus was enhanced. During the same project, the parish replaced 17,000 square feet of damaged concrete in front of the church, and implemented a redesigned space for funeral gatherings. Final paving and landscaping is being completed.

With the closure to the public of the school and church buildings during the pandemic, the project has proceeded rapidly and is more than six weeks ahead of schedule. It came with a $650,000 price tag, $300,000 of which was raised in the early fundraising campaign under Emery. Recent fundraising has been successful as the school and parish has reached out to connect with the greater community, McFall said. More than $100,000 toward the current project has been raised in just the last six months.

Future phases of the project will include an expansion of the school and a renovation of the current building. St. Olaf’s does not have a cafeteria, so the planned multipurpose space would allow the school to provide meals to students and host parish and community events, McFall said. 

Prior to the economic impact of the pandemic, school and parish officials had hoped those projects, which would bring the total cost to an estimated $3.1 million, would happen within three years. 

“Now we’re reassessing and seeing where we are,” McFall said.

Still, the improvements currently being completed will make a big difference to parishioners, students and parents, he said.

“The first thing they’ll notice is the intentionality of it all, from the landscaping, to the design, to the traffic flow,” to intentional prayer spaces centered around St. Olaf, a mission cross and gathering spaces, “where they can reflect on the beauty of nature and our faith, and pray,” McFall said. 

Fr. Skrzypiec expressed the sentiment more directly. “Send your kids to St. Olaf’s; it’s getting beautiful,” he said.

When students return to The Madeleine Choir School this fall, if the coronavirus pandemic conditions allow, they will enjoy a new experience — mud-free play on the quad, which has had artificial turf installed, and a new play structure in the southwest corner of the playground.

Plans for the improvements have been in the works for several years because the school, which opened in its current site in 2003, has grown, said Advancement Director Matt Kitterer.

The lifetime of the field is expected to be around 10 years. The decision to go with artificial turf on the field was made after cost assessment by the school’s finance committee determined the cost of replacement would be less than watering costs over those years.

“Silent fundraising took place over the course of the winter months,” and the project became a reality “with the help of the support of members of our community,” Kitterer said.

The school’s crews were able to install artificial turf on the 10,300-square-foot field in mid-May. Later this month, the school’s crest will be added to its center. 

The upgraded, modern playground equipment, which will include enhanced safety features, also will be installed this month.

With students using the field regularly for physical education, recess, after-school activities, the extended care program and soccer practice, it has been a constant struggle to maintain the field.

“The impetus for this project was that we have 400 kids running around our playground area, our field and, for the size of that surface, we couldn’t keep the grass growing; irrigation became an issue,” Kitterer said. “Our director of operations, Shaun Sparks, and his staff fought tooth and nail for over a decade to try to do what was possible to make that field usable before we were finally able to take this step in installing the artificial turf.” 

“The Madeleine Choir School is incredibly grateful to have the support of people in our community who see the impact of the school’s mission and that they are willing to provide the financial support necessary for us to continue in that mission,” he added.