The bells of the St. Thomas Aquinas Church were ringing in full force the afternoon of February 3rd. As construction of the church is nearing completion, the bells were ringing to test and set their timing mechanisms. The bells could be heard all over downtown Lincoln and across the campus of the University of Nebraska. Listen to the bells in the video below:
The stained glass has officially arrived in Nebraska after its long journey which began in Munich, Germany. Each crate contains sections of the south rose window and the large window above the sanctuary at the east end of the church. The windows will be one of the last elements added to the church, so for the time being they will remain in storage. The installation crew, which consists of local craftsmen and staff from Franz Mayer, will be on site in the coming months to install the windows in time for the Dedication Mass in April.
Construction of Saint Paulinus' Parish Hall in Syracuse, Nebraska continues to move along. In April 2014 Bishop James Conley assisted with the groundbreaking of the new hall. Since construction began last spring, the contractors have been busy working. Framing was underway by the end of August. November saw the installation of windows and the start of exterior brickwork. As of last week, the building is nearly enclosed and the exterior brickwork nearing completion. See the photos below for the entire construction process to date:
The large stained glass window on the east wall of the St. Thomas Aquinas Church has been completed by Franz Mayer's studio in Munich Germany. The window was then crated and shipped to the United Stated by sea freight. The window left Germany in mid-December and is set to arrive next month.
See below for the final photos of the window (in the crates) at Franz Mayer's studio.
From exciting new commissions to project completions, today we are reflecting on the highlights of the past year:
- Completion of the Telesis space in the historic Dairy House, St. Mary Catholic Church renovation in Aurora, Nebraska, bedroom renovation of the Kappa Alpha Theta house at UNL, new Gloria Deo store in Lincoln, new Nelnet office in Omaha, and the window replacement at Saratoga Elementary, our first Lincoln Public Schools project.
- Looking forward to the completion of the Newman Center | St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church at UNL and St. Patrick Catholic Church in Havelock.
- New projects for the UNL Lutheran Center and St. Patrick Catholic Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
- Working alongside experts and artisans for our church projects, including EverGreene Architectural Arts in New York and Franz Mayer of Munich, a stained glass studio in Germany.
- A past project, the parish hall addition of St. Mary Catholic Church in Sutton, Nebraska, survived the May 11th tornado with the only power in town and served 500 Red Cross volunteers daily meals.
- In addition to continued good health and expanding families, the Clark Architects team attended several national conferences, worked on our drawing skills with talented artist and architect, Bob Hanna, and biked to meetings in style on our custom CAC bicycles!
The most fulfilling aspects of 2014 were seeing our projects successfully serve the users and having clients believe in our work and the service we provide.
Cheers to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2015!
