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Campus Facilities Updates from Our Parish Operations Director, Matt Brophy

St. Catherine of Siena – St. Lucy Campus

September 2023

The Rectory boiler installation has been completed. It’s a high efficiency furnace that required a new chimney flue and intake for the boiler. The next step is to manually bleed the air out of every radiator in the building so that the boiler is operating at full capacity.

The first section of the Church and Rectory storm sewer that runs along the exterior of the north wall of the hallway from the Rectory to the Church has been replaced.

Both the storm sewer and the sanitary sewer lines were cracked. Most of the sewer problems were caused by the tree that’s in the church courtyard.

The plumbers were able to camera from the clean out in the newest section of pipes about 30 feet east toward Austin Blvd. Unfortunately, there is a second section of collapsed storm sewer that runs under the walkway on the south side of the Church. At the time of this publication, three plumbing companies have looked at the site and scoped out the work that needs to be done but only one proposal has been submitted. In order to proceed, the Archdiocese requires three written proposals for a job of this size. Therefore, we must wait for the other two proposals before decision to complete the repairs is made. Operations Director, Matthew Brophy, has asked that the Archdiocese provide financial assistance to cover the cost of the second sewer repair.

The School, former Convent and Church are all heated by two boilers in the boiler house located behind the former Convent. There are approximately 30 heating tubes in each boiler that need to be cleaned yearly for proper maintenance. Operations Director, Matthew Brophy, had three boiler companies provide estimates on the repair of one boiler that had 11 leaking tubes and the rebuilding of the refractory walls. The 11 new pipes were installed, and the refractory walls were rebuilt the week of September 11. The next step is the cleaning of each boiler and realigning the flames. Both boilers will be fully ready and operational the week of September 25. The boiler in the Gym will also be cleaned and serviced for the upcoming heating season.

As we end the month of September, the parking lot has been completed, roofs have been repaired, a new boiler was installed for the Rectory, the main boilers were repaired and cleaned for the School and the Gym, additional WIFI access was added to the Rectory, new sump pumps were installed in the Rectory and the Church, new sections of the storm sewers were replaced and a few other smaller projects around the campus. This past winter, LED lighting was installed in the Church, upgrades were made to the sound system including new wireless microphones for the deacon and the priest.

Recently, it was brought to my attention that there are some concerns about the caulking around the Church windows that need to be assessed before winter sets in.

If there are any questions regarding the St. Catherine – St. Lucy Campus, please contact Operations Director, Matthew Brophy at mbrophy@archchicago.org or 708-383-3430 ext 102.