Communion Hall Construction

Background

The Master Plan developed for the parish in 2003 set out a number of phases. Phase I added a ramp and additional handicapped access to the church. Phase II encompassed removing the old convent building in August 2003 and constructing a new multi-purpose facility beginning in April of 2004 and completed in May 2005. This facility is called Communion Hall. The text and pictures here document the project and this is also how the parishioners kept up with the progress at the time.

What's in a name

Our name for this building, Communion Hall has special significance. The namesake of our parish, Pope Pius X, promoted piety among the faithful and advised that Holy Communion be received frequently and if possible, daily. He dispensed with the need for the sick to fast, enabling them to receive Holy Communion more often. He also recommended that the first Communion of children not be deferred too long after they had reached the age of discretion. Dictionary definitions of Communion are also descriptive of St. Pius X parish. In addition to the sacrament, Communion is an act of sharing and Christians having a common faith. St. Pius X parishioners have long exhibited the best aspects of Communion.

Communion Hall provides a cafeteria that seats over 275 comfortably. The kitchen utilized all of the existing equipment but has a new pantry, walk-in refrigerator and walk-in freezer. The cafeteria manager office is right central to the operation and deliveries are received in the back of the building. In the cafeteria, a storage pod is accessible for the storage of all of the tables and chairs so that the room may be utilized for dances, receptions or other functions.

The Youth moved all of their existing equipment and games. Their room will has a kitchen, bathroom, game space and meeting space. Access to the cafeteria is provided for Youth overflow events. This places the Youth center near the gym so that retreats, basketball and volleyball can be conducted close to their base of operations. Before and after school care is also provided in the Youth Room.

The Scout room provides both inside storage and meeting space. In addition, Blue and Gold banquets, Courts of Honor, Pack Meetings and all other scout functions can be held conveniently in the cafeteria. Like the youth, the scouts often have occasion to utilize the gym so this keeps them in close proximity.

The primary function of the teacher's lounge is to provide a lunch room for the teachers. The lounge is conveniently located next to the cafeteria. This room has a small bathroom, eating facilities and small appliance conveniences.

The entry foyer has a small reception area that may be served from the concession pod. This is a useful feature for events in which there is a check-in necessity. Bathrooms are provided directly off of the foyer. The bathrooms feature touch free fixtures and are designed for both good looks and for moving large numbers of people through efficiently.

This building is designed for future expansion to the west. The connection point will be a corridor between the bathrooms and the teacher's lounge. Until that expansion is needed, we simply added a glass wall and door and created a conference room. When expansion is required, that wall will be removed to recreate the corridor.

In all Communion Hall offers 4,571 feet of cafeteria space, 2,263 of kitchen, a youth room of 1,759, scouts occupy 1.412, the teachers lounge is 600 square feet and the conference room is 306.

Who was involved

The convent was demolished by Dallas Demolition. Droese Raney Architecture provided invaluable assistance to the Master Planning Committee of Len Ruby, Cindy Dewan, Bill Armstrong and John F. Farrell. They also designed Communion Hall. Testing was done by Giles Engineering Associates, Mechanical Engineers were O'Dea Lynch Abbattista, Structural Engineering by Stenstrom-Schneider, Civil Engineering by JDJR Engineers and Consultants and permitting with Ryan Bibb Consultants. The general contractor is Gilbert Construction. Mike Gilbert has been a long-time valued parishioner. The superintendent was Jim Mellody.

Click on one of the construction stage descriptions listed in the top right of this page to see pictures of Communion Hall going up.