Bringing new life to old spaces

By Kelli R. Schneider
Special Contributor to the DCA
 
The beginning of a new school year brings Trinity Junior High and High School students a fresh look at two spaces — the Trinity Auditorium and the Knights of Columbus Activities Center. These are two of Trinity’s biggest classrooms and significant places of students living the mission of Trinity Catholic Schools of educating the whole student – mind, body and soul.
           
Late May through early August was a time of renovation at Trinity Junior High and High School. “Before the 2014 fire, efforts had begun on replacing the gymnasium wood floor and evaluating the auditorium needs. When the fire happened, though, all of that had to be put on hold so we could focus on the immediate educational needs of our students,” said Steve Glasser, President of Trinity Catholic Schools.
 
Glasser continued, “With the gym, it really became a safety issue with the floor and with the bleacher seating. The bleachers were no longer safe for fans to sit on and the floor had come to the end of its life. The auditorium had not received a facelift, other than lighting and sound enhancements, since the original construction in the early 60s and that’s well over 50 years of significant use. The carpeting and seating especially were in need of updating.” With the $30 million Building Our Future, Embracing Our Past Capital Campaign complete at Trinity and full support of Bishop Kagan and the Diocese of Bismarck, the “here and now” became the perfect time to embark on the renovations.
           
What is encompassed in the renovation project? For the Knights of Columbus Activities Center, the renovation involved a complete removal of the gym floor and bleachers. The facility received new paint, wood floor, Spaulding portable baskets, bleacher seating, LED lighting and a sound system. The boys’ and girls’ locker rooms also received a much-needed update, including new showers with radiant heat panels.
 
Gregg Grinsteinner, Athletic Director at Trinity High School said, “…this gives our kids a renewed sense of pride! We want our student-athletes to know that we believe in them and that we are invested in them.”
 
In the auditorium, the renovation included removal of the old and installation of new carpeting and seating. Janel Schiff, Drama Director and English and Speech teacher at Trinity High School, said, “So many patrons and community members visit our auditorium for performances and comment about the talent of our students and the beauty of our performances. Now, they will experience our auditorium and the performances hosted there while sitting in comfort.” Schiff continued, “It is a blessing to offer our students the opportunity to perform in an auditorium like Trinity’s; and it is a blessing to offer that space to our community and region.”   
 
Father Kregg Hochhalter, Dean of Students at Trinity Junior High and High School, when asked how this renovation project will help the student population, said “If we are a school about the mind, body, and soul—which we are—then what nourishes those facets of the human person must be adequate…and not just adequate, but magnificent. After the gym and auditorium renovations are complete, those places, paired with the St. John Paul II Chapel and our academic classrooms, will be magnificent places for our students today and future generations of Titans to pray, play and live out our mission.”
 
“These are really the last two pieces of our magnificent facility project, and are the best to be found between Bismarck and Billings; Minot and Rapid City,” said Msgr. Patrick Schumacher, Vice President of the Trinity Catholic Schools Board of Directors.
 
The fundraising for the renovations, in the form of inviting alumni and patrons, as well as alumni parents and current parents, to purchase a seat for either the gym or auditorium or both is going well. The Vision for Our Future Campaign, as it is called, started in early summer and continues. This phase II campaign includes the renovation project, as well the establishment of funds for teacher and staff salary improvements and facility needs. “We need to take care of our very dedicated teachers and staff, and we need to take care of our structures. The Vision for Our Future Campaign encompasses all of that,” said Glasser.
 
Mind, body, and soul—the facets of the human person that are nourished in the classrooms, big and small, — of Trinity Catholic Schools. These classrooms have educated students for over 50 years and proudly embrace educating students for generations to come.