St. Zachary’s Parish Life Center
Location: Des Plaines, IL
Work area: 9,600 square feet
Architect: Risinger Schmitt Associates

St. Zachary’s Parish in Des Plaines, IL was officially formed in 1962 and has flourished to become an active and diverse parish, including St Zachary’s Catholic School, which provides education for grades kindergarten through eighth. In the very early stages, while the church was doing the feasibility study for the Parish Life Center, Riis Borg provided pre-construction consulting, budget estimates and value engineering that assisted the parish with their presentation to the Chicago Archdiocese and helped with a successful fundraising campaign. The new Parish Life Center houses activities for the church and school from fundraisers to physical education classes.

Project description:
• 9,600 square foot addition of a precast concrete gymnasium to the existing school.

• New storage areas, restrooms and an entry vestibule were constructed and an existing storage room was renovated to a concessions area.

Project highlights:
• Precast concrete structure tied into the existing church and school.

• The gymnasium consists of a full length basketball court, two volleyball courts and bleachers for watching sporting events.

• The gymnasium floor is a seamless full-poured polyurethane floor, which is a cost efficient and dependable flooring that can withstand bleachers, tables and years of recreational use.

• The Parish was able to stay fully operational during construction. Safety of the children and faculty was of the utmost importance as barricades were installed and maintained between the construction area and the existing building.

Services provided:
• General contracting
• Pre-construction consulting
• Budget estimating
• Value engineering