Father McGivney to host open house Dec. 15 for McGivney Commons

by Randy Pierce  • Students at Father McGivney Catholic High School in Glen Carbon are the recipients of a spectacular holiday season gift which will be the focus of an open house event to be held there on Dec. 15, from 3:30 until 5 p.m.—McGivney Commons.

Completed this fall after three years of conceptualizing, planning, fund-raising and construction, the commons is a new addition that can be toured by the public during the open house, which will follow a private blessing set to begin at 2 p.m. FMCHS is located near the southwest corner of Old Troy and Bouse roads, at 7190 Bouse, north of Illinois Route 162.

When the students return from their Christmas Break on Jan. 6, they will be able to enjoy the features of the 9,500-square-foot Commons (which is larger than originally planned as the added space came about as the result of a generous donation) onto the existing building, including an indoor gathering space, large enough to serve as the location for daily lunches with room to seat up to 500 people for the weekly all-school mass, which was previously held on a monthly basis, while also serving as a venue for theatrical productions, concerts and other forms of the performing arts plus other large events and meetings.

Components of the Commons include new furniture, and table games such as air hockey, ping-pong and foosball, which are intended to create a welcoming and engaging environment before and after school.

Initially announced in the fall of 2022 in response to needs for accommodating the growing student population, the “Expanding for Our Future” campaign that brought about this structure, while also including additional parking space and classrooms, consisted of a three-phase effort that concludes with the opening of the Commons.

What was formerly referred to as the “Griffins’ Nest,” so named after the school’s athletic teams, and had served as a lunch and meeting room was converted into two classrooms during the summer of 2023 while a third classroom was built in an unfinished area on the second floor of the building.

The first phase consisted of more space for parking behind the school and was followed by, in the summer of 2023, the construction of the aforementioned three new classrooms. Additional storage space was also envisioned when the project was conceived due to the fact that various materials and items had been crammed into stairwells and other places back when this all began.

The project, valued at over $3 million, was supported up front by pledges totaling $2.1 million from six families then supplemented through further donations and the revenue from a variety of fund-raising events and efforts.

As shared at the time this project was undertaken, FMCHS, which celebrated its 10th Anniversary in 2022, had experienced an exponential growth in student enrollment, going from an inaugural group of 19 students in 2012 to 108 ninth through 12th graders in 2015. Enrollment passed 300 students seven years later, so an expansion of the facilities was inevitable. The 2025-26 student enrollment stands at 340.

“The funds necessary to build the new Commons,” according to Father Jeff Goeckner, FMCHS president, “were secured entirely through private donations. It’s been a blessing to have the support of our community in order to finish the Commons and design a space that will fulfill the needs of our student body for years to come.”

Pfund Construction, which is headquartered east of Edwardsville along Blackburn Road and north of Illinois Route 143, broke ground on the new building in May of this year, with the basics of its pending progress visible for those who attended the graduation held that month, then progressed forward at a quick and steady pace, completing the project ahead of schedule.

FMCHS Principal Joseph Lombardi, who like Father Goeckner, and the school’s development director, Suzanne Halbrook, has been solidly standing behind and with this effort since the beginning, expressed his gratitude to Pfund and its team, citing the leadership and craftsmanship that factored into making a dream become reality.

With its “culture of life” modeled after the four pillars of the Knights of Columbus organization, unity, charity, fraternity and patriotism, FMCHS, its stated mission being to develop the whole student in mind, body and spirit, draws from a wide range of regional feeder parochial schools throughout Madison County and beyond.