“If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor.” - Psalm 127:1
Dear Parishioners,
I hope you are enjoying the summer and the normally slower pace of June and July. As you can probably tell, things have not slowed down at all at St. Catherine. I am writing to you with an update on the many projects happening on campus. This is a long update, but please take time to read it.
CHURCH HVAC (Completed June 2024)
The new church HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system is scheduled to be finished at the end of June. The new units on the north side are currently up and running. The new units on the south side of the church should be running by mid-June. Once all of the units are working, the demolition of the old system will happen then. The demolition of the old cooling tower prepares the way for the new electric transformer which will power the new parish center and 4 other buildings on campus.
NEW RECTORY RENOVATIONS (Starting June 2024)
On May 31, the tenants who were living in the “new” rectory moved out. Before the priests move into the rectory across the street from the Church on Bonnabel, some work needs to be done on the house: converting the duplex into a single home and a few repairs and updates. Once the work is completed, the priests will move across the street and the current rectory will become the temporary parish center while the new one is being constructed. Thanks to Hamton Locarg Contractors for making the renovations possible! We hope to move in before the start of school.
NEW CONVENT (Completed July 2024)
The new convent for our religious sisters is almost done! After 6 short months of construction, the convent is scheduled to be finished at the beginning of July. This is just in time to welcome the Nashville Dominican Sisters at the end of July. This project would not be possible without CIS Architects who designed the convent and Premier Construction who built the convent. There were many other people who financially contributed to the project or made in-kind donations (www.scschurch.com/inkind). Thank you to everyone who made this possible!
The names of the 3 sisters who will be teaching in the school will be announced in early to mid-July. They will be teaching in 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 7th grades. We look forward to welcoming them and having religious sisters teaching in our school again! We will schedule an open house for the convent once the sisters arrive. They are very excited to join our parish, and we are overjoyed to welcomed them to SCS!
UTILITY WORK (Starting July 2024)
In order to prepare for the demolition of the Melancon Center and the construction of the parish center, the current electric, water (fire and domestic) and gas utilities need to be moved / reworked. After the HVAC work in the Church is completed and before the Melancon Center is demolished, this work will take place at the end of June and throughout July. Once this work begins, construction fencing will be installed around the construction site. This will close the walkway directly behind the church, remove access to the school through the church gate by the PK playground, and remove access to the church by the confessional door. These areas will be closed off for a year and a half until the new parish center is completed. Please respect the fencing and resist the temptation to be a "sidewalk superintendent."
MELANCON CENTER DEMOLITION (Starting July 2024)
If everything stays on schedule, the goal is to start the demolition of the Melancon Center during the first week of July. We want to get this work done before school resumes and more people are on campus. Thanks to Durr Construction and Ovella Demolition for making the demolition possible.
NEW PARISH CENTER CONSTRUCTION (Starting October 2024)
We are 95% complete on the design of the new parish center which is being prepared by Mathes-Brierre Architects. Six general contractors have been selected to bid on the construction of the new parish center. The bid process will take place during July, and the contract will be awarded at the beginning of August. Once the contract has been signed, we anticipate construction of the new parish center starting by October. It is estimated to take 15 months to construct the new parish center.
NEW COLUMBARIUM CONSTRUCTION (Starting October 2024)
The old HVAC system was located in the basement of the Church. The new HVAC system was re-located to the attic of the Church, freeing up the basement. The basement will be expanded and converted to a columbarium where over 2,200 burial niches will be built. Each niche will be able to hold up to 2 - 4 cremations, depending on the size of the urn. The new columbarium will be built simultaneously with the new parish center. The sale of the niches is paying for the cost of the new HVAC and the construction of the columbarium. For more information or to express interest in a niche, visit https://scschurch.com/columbarium.
NEW PARKING LOT (2026)
Construction of the new parking lot on the corner of Bonnabel and Metairie Road will not begin until the new parish center is completed and the parish offices move to the new parish center. Once that happens, the current offices and rectory will be demolished, and the new 50-car parking lot will be constructed. This will likely happen in early 2026.
WARNING: CONSTRUCTION INCONVENIENCES
As with all construction projects, we need to be prepared to experience some inconveniences. The Melancon Center parking lot will be largely unavailable during construction due to large trucks coming and going, staging of equipment, construction worker parking, and work taking place. Once the Melancon Center has been demolished, scheduling meeting rooms will be more challenging until the new parish center is built. Please be patient with any inconveniences and know that they are temporary until the construction is completed.
THANK YOU!
Thank you to everyone who has helped make these projects possible!! Thank you to the many donors who have contributed to the Forward in Faith Capital Campaign (www.scschurch.com/donors). Over 26.6% of parishioners have contributed so far. We have pledges and donations totaling $6.93 million or 81% of our campaign goal. Our goal is to get 100% of parishioners to participate in the campaign! Thank you to Micki and Lawrence Chehardy for chairing the capital campaign, along with their wonderful committee! Thank you to John Hummel and the facilities committee who are overseeing all of these projects! It would not be possible without all of you and your expertise!
Thank you for reading this long but important update. If you have any questions about any of these projects, please feel free to reach out to me. Our campus is undergoing a major renovation. When it is all completed in the next two years, the progress will be well worth the inconveniences! I think we will all be very proud of the improvements! We will be ready for the next century of ministry in Old Metairie. Thank you for all of your support with these projects as our parish is moving “Forward in Faith!”
Fr. Tim Hedrick
Pastor
MAY 2024 UPDATE
NEW CHURCH HVAC
In the next two months, the church HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system will be replaced. All of the work will take place during the week and should not interfere with weekend Masses.
This work is being done because all of the current equipment is very old and on the verge of failing. Our HVAC company says the equipment has, at most, one or two years left, but it could fail at any point. The cooling tower and the boiler are the original equipment installed in the Church in 1957. Pictures of the old equipment are included below. We are changing the system now before it fails and we are left without cool air or heat.
The new system has several benefits. The current air conditioning system is a chilled water system. There is a cooling tower located behind the cafeteria that sends chilled water to the basement where the air handler units are located. We are shifting to a different system to cool/heat the Church. We will be installing 18 smaller units as opposed to one cooling tower and four large air handler units. The new system will allow us to use a regular A/C repairman instead of a specialist which is needed for the complicated system we currently have. Additionally, the new system allows more redundancy. If one unit goes out, we only lose 5.5% of the capacity. If one of the air handler units goes out now, we lose 25% of our capacity; or if the cooling tower goes out, we lose 100% of our capacity. The new system will also be much more energy-efficient.
The new system eliminates the current cooling tower and boiler. The spaces currently occupied by this equipment will be incorporated in the new Parish Center. The current location for the cooling tower will become the location for the new transformer being installed to power the new building, the church, and most of the school. The current transformer is not large enough to add the new parish center, and it is located in the footprint of the new parish center. Entergy is covering the cost of the new transformer.
The new system also eliminates the air handler units located in the basement of the Church. In a few years, we plan on converting the basement of the Church to a columbarium with approximately 2,000 niches where cremated remains of loved ones can be buried. The design of the columbarium is still being finalized, and more details will be announced later. The cost of the new HVAC system will be paid for by the sale of niches in the basement. For some basic information about the columbarium, visit: https://scschurch.com/columbarium
The pastoral council, finance council, and archdiocese have approved each of these projects. We have been working on these projects with the Archdiocesan Building Office and the SCS facilities committee. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Fr. Tim.