Holy Savior launches capital campaign for new church, school

Holy Savior Catholic Church has launched a $12 million fundraising campaign with the hope of building a new church and school.

The church, near 13th and Erie, officially announced its “A New Hope, A New Home: Built of Living Stones” campaign during Masses on Sunday, church officials said.

The project calls for consolidating Holy Savior Catholic Academy and the church – Wichita’s only predominantly African-American Catholic parish – on a single campus. The school currently is housed at the former Carter Elementary School building at 15th and Oliver.

The proposed building, designed by Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture, would feature:

▪ An 11,000-square-foot church and worship space that could accommodate 500 people, about twice the existing church’s capacity.

▪ A 22,000-square-foot school that would accommodate 300 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The school would include an atrium and a 2,500-square-foot library and media center, and middle school grades would have specialized rooms for art, science and music.

▪ Shared space between the church and school, which would include a 9,800-square-foot gymnasium and a 4,200-square-foot cafeteria. The space would be used for athletic games, church and school programs and funeral dinners.

▪ A parking lot with access from 13th Street and 14th Street, with about 150 spaces and a drop-off area.

▪ And a large playground area for recreational use by the church and school.

“It is quite a leap of faith, but we hope that we could begin this process of actually building this new church, this new campus, within six months to a year,” the Rev. Jim Billinger, pastor of Holy Savior, said in a news release.

The existing church building, built in the late 1940s, originally was designed to be a gymnasium. A separate church initially was envisioned in 1948.

Holy Savior began preparing for its capital campaign in November, officials said. The church is working with the Steier Group of Omaha to help with fundraising.

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Holy Savior launches capital campaign for new church, school."