October 17, 2014 at 4:20 p.m.
Nativity announces Growing Together campaign
Nativity announces Growing Together campaign
The goal of the campaign is to raise $2 to $3 million to pay for upgrades including a new gathering area in the church and multiple renovation projects in both schools.
The campaign will formally begin with a kick-off celebration at 7 p.m. Sunday at the church and will culminate with what the parish is calling "Commitment Weekend" on Dec. 6 and 7.
During the campaign, the parish will be sharing the renovation plans it has drawn up.
According to the Rev. Tom Thakadipuram, the parish is hoping to redesign the church to include a new gathering space for parishioners.
"We are renovating the current church space. We're looking at a brand new design and adding a new gathering space," Thakadipuram said.
"Our plans are already complete so we're holding our celebration Sunday to share those and move forward from there."
Both schools - Nativity South (St. Mary's) and Nativity North (St. Joseph's) - are also due to be renovated, Principal Shirley Heise said.
For Nativity North, the plans include a new office space and a new entryway along with updated technology infrastructure and other changes.
"At the north building site, we will be moving our school office and actually making a whole new school office because the one we have right now is very, very small ... and it's also not at the opening door of the school. We have a security system with cameras so we can let people in, but they still have to walk all the way through the school to get to the office. Our intent is to recreate an office down near the parking lot," Heise said.
The new office area will include the secretary's office and workspace, the principal's office and conference room and a sick room for children, Heise said. It will also allow for employees in the office to see out into the parking lot to keep an eye on things.
"We'll also have a vestibule where we can allow people to come in out of the Wisconsin elements, but still keep the building secure for the students and staff," Heise added.
The present office area will be used for a workspace and storage area for teachers and support staff. If enough money is raised, the school will also look into improving the parking lot.
Included in the plans for both schools are renovations to the technology infrastructure.
"We are also redoing the infrastructure for technology so that the wireless ability for the teachers and students will be upgraded," Heise said.
"We have all new technology equipment with SmartBoards and iPads and laptops and things like that, however we need to upgrade the infrastructure."
Both schools are also hoping to raise enough money for new desks and tables for the students.
"We're hoping for new desks and tables for all the students," Heise said.
For Nativity South, the big project involves the library, media center and cafeteria.
"For the south site, we are actually hoping to turn our present library and media center back into the cafeteria - which in the '40s, '50s and '60s, that's where it was," Heise said. "We will be reutilizing and relocating certain classrooms so that we can build that media center."
Other projects at Nativity South include redoing the gym floor, relocating the music classroom closer to the church and, if enough money is raised, replacing all the heating ventilators in every classroom and redoing the parking lot.
The goal is to work on all of the projects concurrently, however because the renovations at the schools must be completed during the summer when school is not in session, those projects will be started first.
"Our hope is that we are starting renovations the day after school is out, so June 7, 2015," Heise said. "The plan is to have all of our renovations finished on the school portion by the start of the school year."
"In the fall season, we'll start with the church, after the school portion is complete," Thakadipuram added. "Hopefully, within a year everything will be completed."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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