New Building at St. Thomas More Church
On October 3rd, Fr. Vernoy and Dean Shoemaker broke the ground of the sacristy extension project.
A Long-Awaited Project
After two years of preparation, fundraising, and a long City Permit process delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we finally received the authorization to start the construction of our sacristy addition.
M. Dean Shoemaker, the builder proposed to break the ground on October 3rd, the feast day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. We could not but acknowledge the providential timing, as St. Therese is the patron Saint of sacristans.
After the usual 7:30 am Mass, the ceremony of the solemn blessing of the works and groundbreaking took place on the spot at 8:30 am. Priests and faithful of St. Thomas More as well as students from the Academy were delighted to assist to the ceremony.
Shoemaker Construction Company, Inc. will build this long-awaited extension.
Watch the video animation of the project >
(Notice the cost in this video is quite outdated; with time, everything went up!)
October 9: the foundations of the new building are already visible!
Toward a Bigger Church
The construction of these four chapels is a preparatory step in our plan to build our school and expand our church, in order to better answer the needs of our growing community.
Phase #1: construction of an all-grade-inclusive cloister-style, single-story building that houses all classrooms for K-8 lower school and the 9-12 girls high school. Estimated cost: $2.5 - 3.5M.
Phase #2: addition of the school's administrative support wing including computer and science labs, a library, and more storage.
Phase #3: construction of a separate social hall, commercial laundry and kitchen, new bathroom facilities, bookstore, priests and priory staff offices, priory support facilities, and more storage.
Phase #4: expansion of the nave of the church by removing the interior walls of the church building. The stairs to the choir loft will be relocated to a covered exterior portion of the church to free up much-needed space. The two confessionals will be relocated to the far back of the church, and a full baptistery will be added. The capacity will nearly double.
Thank you for joining us in this great enterprise!
