Bellevue’s St. Louise Parish broke ground Sunday, June 7 for its new parish school and Faith Formation Center.

Archbishop Alex J. Brunett presided over the ceremony, which was attended by over 450 parishioners, blessed the new building’s cornerstone and, along with Rev. Tom Belleque, took the ceremonial “first shovel” into the ground.

St. Louise Parish has been planning for the event for more than 10 years, when parish leaders coined the project as the “Futures Project.” Under the leadership of Belleque and his predecessor, Rev. Phil Wallace, the parish raised more than $8 million through a capital campaign in early 2008.

Construction of the new building already has begun. The complete plan for the new parish school and center is a 50,000-square-foot, two-story building of which 35,000 square feet will be finished immediately and the other 15,000 will be shelled-in for future completion. Dan Fitzpatrick, St. Louise School’s principal for the last 20 years, is understandably excited about this new phase for the parish and school.

“Our original school buildings were constructed before I was born – that’s a long time ago,” Fitzpatrick said. “And although these original buildings have served us well, it’s certainly time after almost 50 years to get rid of our outdated portable buildings, to ease the overcrowding in some of original spaces, and to construct something more suitable for 21st century education.”

Fitzpatrick noted that within a year, the school will finally have a dedicated science lab, a computer lab built specifically for that purpose, and a large library “that can hold evening and weekend meetings for the parish.”

Archbishop Brunett noted that St. Louise is the biggest project a parish and school undertaking in the Archdiocese at this time. In addition, he shared his excitement about the fact that, in the midst of a rough economic climate, with Catholic schools closing around the country, the Archdiocese of Seattle is sustaining and fostering educational growth.

St. Louise’s pastor, known as Father Tom among his parishioners, is equally excited about how St. Louise has lived up to its motto, “We are One Body,” and worked together.

“What once was a dream and later became a possibility, has now become a reality,” Belleque said.