Chapel construction to start in late May 2022
I want to keep you up to date on Scecina Memorial High School’s Our Faith, Our Journey, Our Time capital campaign.
The pledge total for Scecina Memorial High School’s Our Faith, Our Journey, Our Time capital campaign stands at the remarkable amount of $7.26 million, and our upcoming major construction efforts will enliven and support our students and community.
We’re excited for the next project, construction of the chapel inside the school building, which is slated to begin on May 31, 2022. We also expect the groundbreaking for the new athletic/activity fields to be later this year.
It has taken longer than anticipated to reach this point with our projects. The following factors have been at work:
- After the COVID shutdown in the spring and summer of 2020, the campaign resumed in fall 2020 in an attempt to exceed the original $6 million goal, reach a stretch goal of $6.6 million by New Year’s Eve 2020, and then go beyond $7 million throughout 2021 due to increasing construction prices, especially for the field renovations.
- A small number of extremely generous campaign commitments totaling $700,000 involved intricacies that were successfully completed in December 2021. These significant commitments have been major factors in being able to arrive at a confirmed pledge amount of $7.26 million.
- Upon reaching this amount, consultations were needed among our design team, school personnel, and the Scecina Board of Directors to arrive at the one athletic/activity field design option that we would pursue.
- Successfully continuing school operations through three school years of COVID has been a major schoolwide undertaking.
I am excited to share the following great news with you. First, regarding the chapel:
- Archbishop Thompson approved the entheos Architects’ chapel design, which includes seating for 125-130 people.
- The archdiocese has also approved the budget for constructing and furnishing the chapel.
- The start of construction is scheduled for May 31, 2022, and our goal is to open the chapel in early fall of 2022, presuming no major challenges with either costs or accessing supplies and materials.
- If you are wondering why we are constructing the chapel before the athletic/activity fields and the main entrance renovation, it’s a very good question. The answer lies in several realities. One, the chapel is much more straightforward than the outdoor fields and the main entrance are from the perspectives of design, finances, and construction planning. Campaign donations are in place to fund the chapel in full now. Equally important is the fact that having an inviting place to pray should always be welcome in a Catholic school.
Regarding the athletic/activity fields and the main entrance:
- Through the consultations with our design team, staff, and the Scecina Board of Directors, we have extensively vetted three field layout options and selected one option to pursue.
- The design we are pursuing will support our football, baseball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls track and cross country, lacrosse, and physical education programs with synthetic turf fields that overlap to a certain degree plus a 1/3-mile running and walking perimeter. We will partner with local CYO and community programs to generate as much use of these new facilities as possible.
- The Schneider Corporation has completed a property survey that will support construction planning.
- We are attempting to design and plan the fields and the main entrance renovation as one project that will have two parts.
- The architect has developed a preliminary milestone schedule that reflects breaking ground during the fall of 2022.
Should you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.
We are moving forward! Go Crusaders!
Sincerely,
Joe Therber
President
