St. Pius X Launches $6 Million Capital Campaign

By GRETCHEN KEISER, Staff Writer

Published: September 18, 2003

ATLANTA—The first archdiocesan Catholic high school, St. Pius X, has launched a $6 million capital campaign to enhance its facilities and make more tuition assistance available to families.

It is the first major community capital campaign in the 45-year history of the high school.

The projects to be addressed include renovating the school kitchen and cafeteria; expanding the Hallinan Hall arts wing; improving seating and field surface and building a new concession stand at the school stadium; adding sports practice fields at nearby Dresden Park; and increasing an endowment fund for tuition assistance.

“We’ve just celebrated our 45th year at St. Pius. We are looking to the future,” said Steve Spellman, principal. “It’s exciting. The improvements will touch every area of our school.”

The campaign is called “Building on Faith” and is led by a committee of volunteers chaired by St. Pius parents Jay Wolverton of Wolverton & Associates, Inc., Tom Flynn of Marsh, Inc., and Olivia Evans.

Honing in on the needed projects began in 2000 when the school community entered into the five-year SACS school improvement process and accelerated in 2002 with a strategic planning process.

After two years of research and reflection, the school adopted a master plan of building projects and school improvements as well as a program to promote growth in endowment and the Annual Fund, the director of development, Steve Siler, said.

The $6 million campaign is a three-year pledge campaign focused on the parents, alumni, faculty and friends of St. Pius X High School, as well as foundations. Construction costs and projects fees are estimated to amount to $5 million.

The cafeteria and kitchen renovation is estimated to cost $1.2 million and will increase the seating capacity from 250 to 350, enlarge and modernize the kitchen, add a second serving line, relocate the bookstore and update the breezeway appearance.

“The cafeteria is really the space in the school that gets used the most. It is the centerpiece of the school geographically,” Siler said. “The renovation is going to make an immediate impact.”

The increased seating capacity will allow for much improved lunch schedules. Right now some students have lunch period at 10 a.m. in order to move all students through the cafeteria daily. The renovated bookstore will have outside access and expanded inventory. The cafeteria renovation is expected to start at spring break in 2004 and be completed by September to minimize disruptions.

The arts wing project will add 10,000 square feet of new construction; enlarge classrooms for drama, dance, band and chorus; relocate and enlarge the graphic arts classroom; create a new foreign language lab and provide dressing rooms and storage space. The fine arts program will be consolidated in one location on campus, which will improve practice, rehearsal and instructional areas. This project is estimated to cost $2 million and to be completed by September 2004.

Stadium improvements will upgrade the facility according to Georgia High School Association AAAA standards, Siler said. The field will be replaced with artificial turf, a new concession stand and press box will be built, seating will be expanded and a new entranceway and plaza will be created. The estimated $1.3 million project is scheduled to be completed by August 2004.

In the Dresden Park project, DeKalb County Parks and Recreation has undertaken a project to renovate and improve the park, which abuts the northwest side of the St. Pius campus, and has agreed to grant St. Pius use of park facilities in exchange for the school maintaining the park.

St. Pius is projected to contribute $500,000 to a total improvement project of $1.3 million. This project is also expected to be completed by August 2004.

Construction will include building a baseball field and stadium, replacing softball fields with an open athletic field, creating a running/walking track, providing access to St. Pius via a walking path and improving parking and other facilities.

The park improvement project will be extremely beneficial to the athletic program, Siler said, as it will allow the baseball team to practice and play near the St. Pius campus and give soccer, lacrosse and football teams convenient practice fields.

The campaign has a goal of raising $1 million for the tuition assistance endowment fund. All interest earned from these endowed monies will be used to enhance the school’s tuition assistance program. Over a five-year period, the improved endowment fund could provide an additional $250,000 of tuition assistance.

The initiation of the Building on Faith campaign reflects the fact that St. Pius X, for decades the only archdiocesan high school, is now one of three archdiocesan high schools with the opening of Blessed Trinity in Roswell and Our Lady of Mercy in Fairburn in 2000. A number of independent Catholic high schools have also opened.

While capital improvements have been made at St. Pius over the decades, “much of the money in five previous capital campaigns came from the archdiocese,” Siler said.

In 1963, the stadium and track was built with funding from the school Athletic Association. In 1975, the John Paul II Activities Center was funded by the archdiocese and the Athletic Association. In 1984 an archdiocesan capital campaign provided $4 million to St. Pius to build the Hallinan Hall addition. The Donnellan Center was built in 1991, largely through the generosity of the late Nancy Donnellan, Siler said. In 1998 the support of the archdiocese provided a math and science wing and new gymnasium.

The 2003 campaign will look to the St. Pius community itself for support. The plan has already evolved from within that community.

About 180 parents, alumni and faculty were involved in the strategic planning process. Four major parent organizations, the St. Pius Arts Society, the Mothers Club, the Athletic Association and the Home and School Association, were active in identifying the master plan projects with the faculty. Parents of current students were shown a video about the campaign on Sept. 3 at “mini-class” night as the public phase of the campaign began.

“It’s kind of that dream wish list we’ve all talked about for a long time, and we’re getting it all done,” the director of development said.

Enrollment at St. Pius this year is 1,010 students, which is just about an ideal size for the school, he said. Now that more Catholic high schools exist from which parents and students can choose, the original archdiocesan high school knows that it is important to remain competitive, Siler said.

“There’s no doubt we have to improve our facilities to remain competitive. We have to provide those things our families and our kids are expecting.”

For more information on the campaign or to make a pledge, contact Steve Siler, director of development, at (404) 633-4290.