St. Vincent de Paul ready to expand as its celebrates 175-year history

As it celebrates its 175th anniversary, St. Vincent de Paul Parish School is poised for a major capital expansion.

The $4 million project will add classrooms, a cafeteria and a band room to the growing Catholic school, and expand meeting space for a parish of nearly 4,500 members, according to the Rev. David Hulshof, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul.

Construction is expected to begin this summer and is slated for completion by the summer of 2012.

"It's important to note that this is a joint expansion," Hulshof said. "As a parish, we're continuing to grow."

The biggest portion of the building plan includes an addition just south of the gymnasium at the Ritter Drive grade school. Plans call for 10 new classrooms.

"This will allow us to have our children under one roof, our grade school students and our Sunday school children," the reverend said. Renovation of the two-story central office building, including reinforced concrete hallways, will step up tornado and storm protection for the school, too.

The addition will include a new band room, cafeteria and kitchen. St. Vincent's gymnasium currently doubles as the school's lunchroom. Hulshof said an expanded parish center will add 200 places, serving 600 parishioners for church banquets and events.

St. Vincent has been using the adjacent old Notre Dame High School building for additional grade school classrooms and for Sunday school programs for some 40 children. The expanded school, Hulshof said, will afford the same SmartBoard and advanced learning technologies to all students attending St. Vincent.

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission meets next week to consider recommendations to consolidate the old smaller plat lines of the private school property into one large lot.

"I would call it more of a housekeeping issue," said Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau's assistant city manager and director of planning."The use of property has changed over the years, and we have to replat the area to fit its current use."

Expansion won't put the old Notre Dame building out of commission. Hulshof said Southeast Missouri State University plans to use the east end of the three-story structure for storage space, which should be at a premium as the university undergoes its own massive campuswide building renovation and expansion project that is expected to close Academic Hall for months at a time. Hulshof said St. Vincent and Southeast are set to sign a two-year contract with multiple-year options May 1.

St. Vincent will continue to use the west end of a building that has served spiritual retreats and as housing for northern students on their way to do mission work in the Gulf after Hurricane Katrina.

Hulshof said parish officials looked at remodeling or retrofitting the property, but it wasn't cost-effective. Leasing the space to Southeast will provide a source of revenue and reduce utility costs, he said.

"It's been a great facility," Hulshof said. "We don't see a future need for that building once we build our new building."

The prekindergarten through eighth-grade private school has bucked the downward enrollment trend in Catholic education. Hulshof said when he arrived nearly five years ago, enrollment was at 365 students; today it's at 420, expected to increase to as many as 450 next year.

The expanded school will add another section of pre-K, bringing all grade levels up to two classes. Capacity will be about 550 students.

"I think there really is a commitment of our parents here to Catholic education," Hulshof said. "I do believe that people see the value."

St. Vincent, Hulshof said, is a major feeder for Notre Dame Regional High School. Last year, about 50 students, all of the grade school's graduates, enrolled at Notre Dame. Hulshof said he likes to joke with Notre Dame principal Brother David Migliorino that St. Vincent is a big reason Notre Dame consistently ranks among the top 50 Catholic high schools in the U.S.

A fundraising campaign launched last fall has generated nearly $3.4 million in pledged support to the $4 million expansion project, Hulshof said.

A groundbreaking is scheduled for May 23. Bishop James V. Johnston of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau and diocesan officials are expected to be in attendance.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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