New campus addition at choir school dedicated

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

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Father John Evans, vicar general, oversees the ribbon cutting of The Madeleine Choir School’s new building as two students cut the ribbon.

SALT LAKE CITY — A new three-story building on The Madeleine Choir School campus was dedicated Sept. 6. The 16,900-square-foot facility will serve as the school’s field house and early childhood education center. The new building on the campus’ northeast corner is part of the school’s strategic development plan.

“This project provides for us an early childhood education center for our PreK, and then it also provides us with a full-size gymnasium and a P.E./rehearsal studio, lockers, changing rooms, rooms for teachers’ meetings, a dance studio and other [uses],” said Gregory Glenn, the school’s pastoral administrator, in an interview.

The Sept. 6 dedication ceremony began with an MCS student council member welcoming Father John Evans, the diocesan vicar general, who oversaw the ribbon cutting and blessing of the facility.

“Dear Fr. Evans, for many years the students have not had a place to exercise in bad weather and a home court that celebrates our student athletes … a place where we can learn the great value of team work, preparation and selfless efforts for the sake of the greater good,” the student said, asking Fr. Evans to open the doors “to our new recreation and early childhood center,” which has been named the Cardinals’ Nest after the school mascot.

Fr. Evans, joined by two of the school’s youngest students, cut the ribbon and opened the facility’s doors, welcoming all the school members as well as donors, family members and guests to a small ceremony and tours through the building.

Glenn introduced one by one all the people who made the facility a reality.

“Thank you, Bishop [Oscar A.] Solis, who is ill and couldn’t be here with us today, for your ongoing support of our history and to the mission of this school,” Glenn said, and voiced his appreciation for the many donors and supporters of the school, including two of the diocese’s vicar general emeriti: Monsignori J. Terrence Fitzgerald and Colin F. Bircumshaw.

Also present at the ceremony were retired Cathedral of the Madeleine rectors Msgr. M. Francis Mannion and Msgr. Joseph M. Mayo, and the current rector, Fr. Martin Diaz, who “represent 38 years of cathedral leadership and have been crucial to The Madeleine Choir School,” Glenn said.

Representatives of the ALSAM Foundation, the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation and the David Kelby Johnson Foundation attended the event, as did members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Chris and Sandy Hemmers Meier, Jim and Andrea Steenburgh, Howard and Nancy Lemcke, representatives of the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, and Paul and Jane Hitzelberger, among others, including members of the project’s architectural and construction firms.

The color scheme of the $13-million building is based on the cathedral’s Annunciation window “because we wanted to make a connection between the cathedral and the school,” Glenn said.

After Fr. Evans blessed the new building, students were able to see the new facility for the first time since construction started a year ago.

As the children went room to room, it was wonderful “to see the joy on the kids’ faces because now they have this … and to see their expressions of how appreciative they are,” said Mario Puente, the project manager.

“It’s such a blessing for our students because we always have them in mind, so this is a huge blessing to be able to have this facility that will bring them more opportunities and more experiences,” said Scarlett Gonzalez, the school’s marketing and development associate.

The new facility will allow the school to host home games for various sports, she added.

Families in attendance also toured the new facilities and were able to see the opportunities they will offer.

“It is exciting; it’s great to be here in this really momentous milestone in the long history of the school,” said Elpitha Tsoutsounakis, who has an eighth-grade student at the MCS.