St. Patrick Catholic Church plans to develop a new church and school campus at 601 Airport Center Drive E. in North Jacksonville at an estimated project cost of $7 million, of which $4.5 million will be used on the new school.
Kathleen Bagg, spokeswoman for the Diocese of St. Augustine, said the diocese hopes the school will be ready for the new school year in the fall. The current church and school are at 1429 Broward Road and that 10.8-acre property has been sold to a charter school organization, which is allowing the church to continue using the location until plans are completed for construction of the new church.
The school is planned to be developed first.
St. Patrick Catholic Church was established in 1959 and the school was started in 1964. Its website is stpatrickjax.org.
Patricia Bronsard, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of St. Augustine, said the school has about 170 elementary-grade students and the new school will accommodate 300 students in the first phase.
The new school also will have pre-kindergarten and also will offer day care.
She said St. Patrick, like many Catholic schools nationwide, has faced challenges. A move in locations can expand its reach in the area.
"By changing the location of the school, the diocese can provide high-quality Catholic educational options for the families in North Jacksonville," Bronsard said.
She said the Rev. Jose Kulathinal, former pastor of St. Patrick, initially presented the property to the diocese several years ago as a possible site.
She said the property was purchased and a capital campaign began when The Rev. Christopher Liguori began at St. Patrick. She said the capital campaign is continuing.
Sauer Inc. is the contractor.
The new 13.8-acre site is about 8 miles north of the existing location. Bagg said the Diocese of St. Augustine has owned the Airport Center Drive property for several years.
The City is reviewing a building-permit application for the school and site-development plans for the church.
The construction permit application shows a $4 million project for 23,000 square feet of new construction of two buildings for classrooms for grades K-8 and a cafetorium. Ronald Scalisi Architects is the designer.
Site development plans for the church indicate a 700-seat sanctuary. Reynolds Smith and Hills is the engineer.
St. Patrick is one of 52 parishes in the 17-county Diocese of St. Augustine. The total Catholic population in the diocese is 182,000.
The school is one of 24 parish elementary schools in the diocese.
Mayo, Memorial plan projects
Mayo Clinic Florida and Memorial Hospital are planning renovations and additions.
• Mayo Clinic Florida has applied to the City to build a $3.5 million dialysis center at 4658 Worrall Way on its Southside campus. Danis Construction is shown as the contractor of the almost 14,000-square-foot project.
As reported in December, Mayo expects construction to be completed by the end of the year. The dialysis center will relocate from St. Vincent's Medical Center Southside by the end of 2013.
The clinic reported the dialysis center will be built next to the Mayo Clinic Sleep Center and contain 24 treatment bays and three home-training bays as well as exam, consult and associated staff spaces. It will be designed to accommodate both mobile and stretcher patients.
• Memorial Hospital plans to renovate its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and nursery at the 3625 University Blvd. S. medical center.
Adam Landau, senior media and communications coordinator, said construction should start in May and be completed in August. The project is a total $1 million.
He said Memorial Hospital has updated its labor and delivery rooms the past year and the neonatal intensive care unit is part of the process.
A building-permit application shows Dana B. Kenyon Co. as the contractor for a $750,000 project to renovate 4,200 square feet of space.
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