Church renovations are on for St. John's

By ALICIA DILLON
Reporter

What seems to be an eyesore on Creighton’s campus will result in a much-needed improvement to St. John’s Church.

Renovations to the church began several months ago.

The changes include a new heating and air conditioning system and the restoration of the stones that are part of the church.

“The parish recognized a need to do some improvements to the church,” said Lennis Pederson, associate vice president for administration and director of facilities management, “Further, the parish committees saw the need to do some expensive but much-needed building maintenance that had been earlier deferred for any number of reasons.

“The structure will be very close to the color of the north part [newer part] of the church. The driving criterion is to not change the historical significance of the natural stone used in the building.”

About 1,800 stones in the south wall will be replaced.

“The original part of the church will be coated with a sealant to balance the color presentation of the cleaned wall with the patched stone and new stone,” Pederson said.

“St. John’s is 119 years old; this simply has to be done so the church doesn’t fall down,” said the Rev. Bert Thelen, S.J., pastor of St. John’s Church.

Because of the installation of the new heating and air conditioning unit, a few rooms were lost and the parish had to find new office spaces for some faculty members.

“It’s a mess down there. Offices were cut in half, and faculty members are being moved,” said John Sullivan, Arts & Sciences junior and Campus Ministry Eucharistic minister and lector.

The new heating and air conditioning unit should not be as loud as the previous unit, but it is about the size of a bus and requires a lot of space, Thelen said.

Students agree that the upkeep of St. John’s is necessary.

“The church is a staple on campus. It’s really good that they’re keeping it up,” Sullivan said.

St. John’s, in cooperation with Creighton, is raising the money for these renovations.

“Father Schlegel made it part of his current campaign,” Thelen said. “St. John’s is working in partnership with Creighton University for fund-raising.”

“This is important. So many students go to church there, and I think it is important to put money towards this,” Sullivan said.

The project is expected to be completed by early November.