St. Paul Parish in Highland holds groundbreaking for third phase of ‘Trinity Hall’

Work on a new gathering space, “Trinity Hall,” has officially begun at St. Paul Parish in Highland, which is the last and largest phase of its campus-wide construction and renovation project.

A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held, which, in addition to Kevin Hemann, mayor of Highland, saw representatives from both St. Paul Parish and The Korte Co., the design-build contractor.

Also in attendance were Rev. Pat Jakel, pastor; Rev. Piotr Kosk, parochial vicar; Renee Mitchell, school vice-principal; Terry Zeisset, St. Paul Parish Campus Growth Team chairperson; Ralph Korte, founder of Korte Co.; Todd Korte, president and CEO; and Jay Korte, director of Client Relations; members of the Campus Growth Team; St. Paul Parish and school staff; St. Paul parishioners at large; and The Korte Company team members.

With an expected completion date of April 2022, the multi-million dollar project contains two main scopes:

• Construction of Trinity Hall, a new gathering space connecting St. Paul Church to the Parish Life Center, which houses the new Parish Office; and
• Renovation of the church’s worship space, including renovation of the sanctuary, sacristies, church garage, and cry room, relocation of the organ console, new paint, new side pendant and sconce lighting, and the addition of a choir room behind the west sacristy.

This is the third and final phase of St. Paul’s campus-wide construction and renovation project, which began in fall 2018. Phase I was completed in September 2019 and consisted of school improvements ($621,000). Phase II consisted of renovating the Parish Center for relocation of the parish office and installation of air conditioning in the gym and was completed in August 2020 ($332,000).

A Phase “2.5” was added to address the replacement of the church windows, replacement of the church boiler, installation of a west side handicap church entrance, and new church lighting ($522,000). With the exception of the grand window in the church, Phase 2.5 is complete.

“For almost six years, planning has been in the works for a new gathering space that would provide a space for fellowship after Masses and other special events and use for other parish and school functions,” said Rev. Pat Jakel, pastor of St. Paul Parish.

“This entire campus project was made possible through the unified vision and generous financial support and dedication of the parishioners of our St. Paul Parish Family. We give God glory and praise for giving success to the work of our hands.”

For more information on St. Paul Parish, please visit www.stpaulhighland.org.

For more information on The Korte Company, please visit www.korteco.com.