St Columba Parish Campus Design Update

Revised July 8, 2025

The St Columba Campus Design Team is excited to announce that Adam Hermanson from Integration Design Group will make a presentation for the Parish on August 3 after the 10 am Mass in the gym. Please join us to learn more about our progress, timing and next steps for Phase 1 of our Living Stones Campaign.

The St Columba Campus Design Team has been busy in April, May, and June working with our architects to evaluate existing conditions on our campus with our mechanical, electrical, fire protection and plumbing engineers. We have also had visits from stained glass consultants and consulted with audiovisual and sound experts.

Here is a summary of our Phase 1 Design Work and Findings:

CHURCH



• A new narthex gathering space with a new entrance will be added on the east side of the church to provide much needed space as we enter and are sent forth from our liturgies. 
• There will be new bathrooms, space for social gathering and a raised outside patio for church and school events. 
• The balcony will be expanded and the old stairs replaced. 
• The existing entry will be remodeled to provide vesting sacristies, and a new confessional and usher’s closet. 
• The area under the balcony will be enclosed with glass and will provide a quiet place at the back of the church. 
• The structure of the church is sound and will not require any additional repair or support.
• The steeple will need a new sheathing but structurally looks good. 
• All the stained-glass windows in the church have been cared for and are generally in good shape. They will be removed and repaired as necessary. The frames for the windows will have to be rebuilt. All the stained-glass windows will be used.
• A new heating and air conditioning system will be installed in the church. It will be a dual heat pump/ furnace system, which will be cost effective and efficient to heat and cool the church. This system will be installed in the attic of the church.
• Fire alarm and fire suppression will be installed in the church, and it will be fully sprinklered throughout.
• Audio improvements are being researched to provide great sound quality within the Church. Improvements being considered include modern speaker systems aimed at the pews, microphone updates, appropriate AV component upgrades and wireless/ Bluetooth integration system for personal hearing systems. Speakers also will be added to the narthex entry and on the outside patio. 
• Projection improvements are being researched for costs and possible inclusion.

INFRASTRUCTURE

• The Land Use Development Permits were not required when St Columba was established, so we have applied for and obtained a Special Use Permit for the school and a Limited Use Permit for a place of assembly (the Church). The city zoning and compliance of the Parish property is now up to date.
• In 1957, the alley through our campus was vacated by the City; however, we will have to establish easements to protect access to the utilities. This is good news, since no replatting of the property is required.
• St Columba will be responsible for repair and replacement of damaged sidewalks and curbs and installing ADA curb ramps at the corners during Phase 1. However, over the years the city has covered the street curbs reducing the height of exposed curbs with past pavement overlays. They will correct this overlay at their cost sometime in the future. This is great news. 
• We have proposed to install two taps into the 4-inch water main line on E 2^nd Ave for additional flow capacity for the fire suppression systems. A Hydrant Flow test demonstrated enough pressure in the city water lines also good news as no supplemental fire pump is required.

HAUSER

• Install modifications of the electrical system to support fire suppression.
• Provide a new water supply for fire protection. Replace piping within the building as necessary.
• New fire alarm initiation, notification, control and monitoring devices will be installed to include alarm horns and visual strobes throughout the building.
• All areas will be sprinklered throughout. 

NEXT STEPS:

We are awaiting comments from the Planning Department on the Minor Site Plan application and will work with them to adjust the proposed scope as necessary. Next, the Schematic Design will be reviewed by a construction contractor to update our cost estimates which will allow us to prioritize moving into the Design Development phase of the project, where our design will be further developed towards construction documents.

Please join us on Sunday, August 3 to learn more about current and future plans for our St Columba Parish Campus.