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Donation

St. James School Principal Monique Almquist, center, accepts the first donation to raise money to overhaul the Danielson parochial school’s gymnasium. Aug. 24 St. James Council 2883, Knights of Columbus, Grand Knight Kevin A. Perry, right, and Council 2883 Program Director Garry L. Beausoleil, left, presented Almquist with the council’s $600 check, to start the $180,000 fund-raising campaign. Plans call for a new gymnasium floor and roof, replacing the interior lights, a complete paint job and the creation of a new display area to show off current and former students’ achievements. Photo: John D. Ryan

 

DANIELSON — Asking for help from St. James Parish, alumni and the community, St. James School officials are looking to raise $180,000 to overhaul the school’s gymnasium. Plans call for a new floor and roof, replacing the interior lights, a complete paint job of the walls and bleachers and the creation of a new display area to show off current and former students’ achievements.

The first donation to the fund-raising drive was presented Aug. 24 with a $600 check from the parish’s Knights of Columbus council, St. James Council 2883. “St. James Council is looking to take the lead here and set the example for others to follow and show our support for our school,” said Council 2883 Grand Knight Kevin A. Perry, during the council’s presentation to St. James School Principal Monique Almquist. “St. James School is a great thing for the students and the parish and our people. That’s important to us,” Perry said.

Almquist said there improvements are needed. “The gym floor is paper-thin,” she said. “There are some problems with the seams on the roof and there’ve already been some leaks. It’s only going to get worse. We started the painting and replacing some of the lights now, to show parents the process of what we’re trying to do. Now it all depends on fund-raising.” 

With over 200 students, the kindergarten through eighth grade parochial school has been part of its Catholic parish since it was founded in 1889. Almquist said they used money left over in the school’s athletic account to pay for it, in anticipation of the fund-raising effort.

Now that the first donation has been received, “Friends of St. James School” Chairman Ernest L. Charron,1 who is a Knight of Columbus, said they want to start the bulk of the work in June of 2016, shortly after the school year ends. He said the new floor, painting, new lights and the display area would cost $84,000 to $100,000, with the new roof estimated to cost another $80,000. “The Friends of St. James School” is a private group in charge of fund-raising for this project.

 “We’re doing this in two phases,” Charron said. “We need a new floor as soon as possible. The current floor needs to be replaced; it’s not possible to fix it anymore. The new lights and the painting also need to be done first, with the display area as part of that. Then we’ll do the roof in a second phase. It all depends on how much we can raise as soon as possible.”

Donations and pledges can be made now, by contacting St. James School, at (860) 774-3281.

Fund-raising will be ramping up in the coming weeks. As an incentive, Charron said, they would offer prospective donors the opportunity to sponsor square feet in the gymnasium.