— Daily Freeman-Journal file photo This Water Street entrance to St. Thomas Aquinas School is destined to become the main entrance to the facility. The administrative offices will be moved from the second floor to an area at the southwest corner of the building and will feature space for the school secretary and principal, as well as a small teachers’ lounge. The project committee hopes to add a student drop off point at the entrance.

A Webster City church recently completed a successful capital campaign that will fund upgrades and renovations this year.

Through a special capital campaign, Faith in Our Future, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church raised more than $2.7 million. The funds raised surpassed the initial minimum goal of $2 million.

The contributions will allow the church to renovate facilities, including the church, parish center and school. An endowment fund to pay for future maintenance needs will also be established with any funds not used in the renovations, according to church officials.

The campaign kicked off with a celebration on Sunday, Sept. 27 and culminated with the Commitment Weekend on Nov. 1. Officials said 38 volunteers worked on the effort and more than 188 members made gifts or commitments and contributed to the campaign’s success.

The church was assisted in the effort by Walsh & Associates, Church Capital Campaign Specialists, a Burnsville, Minnesota-based fundraising consulting firm.

The capital campaign was supposed to start just about the time that the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“We were going to roll out the campaign in March and April. But we pushed it back and revisited the campaign in July,” according to Heidi Tesdahl, development director.

The committee got together with the capital campaign consultants to work on a path forward.

“We knew our needs weren’t going away,” Tesdahl said. “The projects still needed to be done.”

Long before the campaign was implemented, a survey was presented to church members, asking if they would support the proposed renovations.

“We had an overwhelmingly positive response, especially to the interior church renovations,” Tesdahl said.

The group took a leap of faith and reactivated the campaign.

The project was divided into three phases, with the first portion starting before the campaign got rolling, Tesdahl said.

The first phase involved an HVAC project with work in the lunchroom and kitchen that is now complete.

“This included new HVAC units for various areas in the facility, including the kitchen and lunchroom. The boilers that we have that service the school and the church are nearing the end of their life,” she said. “So this takes a little bit of the load off of them. So when the time does come, if we decide to do something smaller and more manageable, we’d be able to do that.”

To create that system, crews had to tear out ceilings in the lunchroom. That meant new flooring, new lights, electrical panels and ceiling in the space.

The second phase will include some renovations inside the church itself.

“We’ve been hoping to do an interior church renovation since 2013,” said Rita Wolfgram, church secretary. “The last time any renovations were done was in 1991.”

One of the biggest issues in the church has been the peeling paint in the sanctuary. Tesdahl said that the problem stemmed from moisture, ventilation and roof issues. A new roof was installed in 2011.

“Before we did anything, we wanted to make sure we addressed the root causes,” she said.

The committee asked for an assessment of the structure from the architect.

“They looked at the HVAC system, the masonry outside and the leaks. They went into the school and looked at some things, too,” Tesdahl said. The architect provided the committee with a list of things that could be done as well as a list of things that needed to be done and provided estimated costs for the projects as the committee looked to prioritize the work.

The Phase Two renovations in the church will include painting the sanctuary, new pews and flooring. The space will also be made handicap accessible, with a ramp to be added near the front of the sanctuary. Plans also call for the addition of a room at the back of the church with a window onto the sanctuary for young mothers and children.

The reconciliation room will be moved slightly to create room for the baptismal font at the rear of the room.

The tabernacle will be moved to the front of the church, in front of a decorative reredos behind the altar.

“As you stand in the main aisle, the focal points are supposed to be the altar, the tabernacle and the crucifix, which will be suspended from the ceiling,” said Wolfgram. “So as you look up, you will see all of those.”

The renovation work will go out for bids in the near future, as painting in the sanctuary is scheduled to begin in May.

While the work is going, mass will move to the gym in the parish center, Wolfgram said.

Phase Three will focus on changes at St. Thomas Aquinas School. A new entrance will be established using the Water Street entrance. Currently, the office entrance is on Dubuque Street which dead ends behind the church.

“Right now, the offices are kind of hard to find,” said Tesdahl. “They are tucked back on a dead end street and up a flight of stairs. We want to be more visible.”

The entrance and administrative office will be handicap accessible and will feature space for the school secretary, principal and a small teachers’ lounge.

“We’re displacing one classroom. It will be on the very far southwest side of the building,” Tesdahl said. “It will be complete with a secure entrance. Visitors will have to come through the office to be admitted to the building.”

They hope to add an awning and a perhaps a half-circle student drop off point at the entrance.

“Those plans are still being developed,” she said. “We hope to start that phase as soon as school gets out this year.”

Ultimately, the goal of the renovations is to provide a safe and inviting space for all, according to Wolfgram and Tesdahl.

“We want to make it welcoming for everybody, whether at the church or the school,” Wolfgram said.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church has been a part of the Webster City Community since 1869. The present church building was constructed in 1900 and the parish center was added in 2000.