Assumption: New school for Holy Trinity stirs excitement
10/6/2004ASSUMPTION - Some drawings in the school hallways here generated more than casual glances from students and staff.
Youngsters eagerly checked out the proposed plans of the new Holy Trinity School, pointing out new classrooms, the new gymnasium, a new cafeteria.
"The staff members are very excited about it, and the kids are too, especially the ones that can understand what is going on. Older ones were saying, 'It's so neat, it's so cool, but we won't be here,'●" said Linda Justen, principal. "They are excited, but disappointed" that the cool school won't be built until after they finish classes and head to high school.
A new Holy Trinity School and a family life center and offices would be built as part of the first of two phases of a building project on a new campus in Assumption. A church would be built in phase two. As a result of the unification of four individual parishes, Holy Trinity serves more than 1,100 families and the number of registered parishioners is increasing weekly, church officials said.
A $4.5 million capital campaign has been started to raise funds to help pay for the initial phase, said parish priest Dennis Metzger. The timetable for construction of phase one depends on the results of the campaign, he said. Diocesan policy requires that half of the construction cost be secured before construction begins, he said. The estimated cost for phase one is nearly $9 million. The diocese would lend the parish the the balance, but the loan would have to be repaid before construction starts on the church. Cost esimates for phase two aren't set yet, Father Metzger said.
Groundbreaking for the school likely wouldn't occur until late 2005, at the earliest, he said.
The capital campaign, which runs until November, began with $300,000 in its fund, and about $800,000 was pledged by the first 60 people who received information about the project, Father Metzger said.
Reaction has been positive, but "some people are sad to lose four little parishes," he said. However, there are "a lot of opportunities for the future here. It is a growing community." Attendance at Mass has increased by 100 in six months, he said. Growth is occurring in western Lucas County as well as in eastern Fulton County. The parish, which covers a 200-square-mile area, includes Holy Trinity at Richfield Center, Holy Trinity at Marygrove, Holy Trinity at Assumption, and Holy Trinity at Lyons.
Mass is no longer conducted at Holy Trinity at Richfield Center, but the building continues to house the day-care center, preschool, and kindergarten classes.
Holy Trinity School has 191 students. Enrollment is expected to increase, Mrs. Justen said, noting the residential growth in the area.
Plans call for the school to include 12 regular classrooms, a media center/library, multipurpose rooms, kitchen, cafeteria, gymnasium, stage and music education area, teacher's lounge, technology center, art classroom, parish office, and faith formation center.
"We have been really excited to be involved in the design of the school," Mrs. Justen said. "If we see a need to move something, we can. We can make revisions."
The new school, she said, will be conducive to the way children learn today. There will be an absence of clutter, better lighting, and improved technology, for instance.
The school is to be constructed south of the existing school. The parish has about 20 acres of land at the Assumption location.
Holy Trinity School has 191 students. Enrollment is expected to increase, Mrs. Justen said, noting the residential growth in the area.
Plans call for the school to include 12 regular classrooms, a media center/library, multipurpose rooms, kitchen, cafeteria, gymnasium, stage and music education area, teacher's lounge, technology center, art classroom, parish office, and faith formation center.
The school, Mrs. Justen said, will be conducive to the way children learn today.