Groundbreaking Sunday for St. Theresa expansion in Palatine

St. Theresa Parish in Palatine will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Sunday, May 22, for an expansion of its school and parish facilities, including the addition of a new school hall, science and computer labs, a music room and kindergarten classrooms.

Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz and Village Manager Reid Ottesen will be on hand for the ceremony at 455 N. Benton St., which will begin after the 11:30 a.m. Mass.

The Rev. Ronald Hicks, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, will preside at the Mass.

Other aspects of the construction project will include new gym lighting and flooring, renovation of the parish meeting hall, flood remediation of the existing courtyard and updated lighting, ceilings, doors and paint schemes.

Though this entire phase of construction won't be completed until February, the most disruptive parts of it will be done by the time students return to class in the late summer, parish Communications Director Nicole Carlisle said Friday.

Just after the groundbreaking ceremony, a town hall meeting will be held in the church to update parishioners on the scope, schedule and finances of the project.

St. Theresa Parish is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The original school building was completed in 1954. Last November, the school earned the U.S. Department of Education's National Blue Ribbon Schools Award of Excellence.