Omaha World Herald Features the Learning For Life Building

For an institution rooted in ancient religious tradition, the future looks very modern and high-tech at Mount Michael High School.

School officials are preparing to open a new two-story, 47,350-square-foot administrative and instructional building that will transform the campus of the Catholic, all-boys, college-prep high school.

The David “DJ” Sokol Learning for Life Building is about the size of a new public elementary school, with 20 classrooms and laboratories.

Sokol attended Mount Michael and died of cancer in 1999 shortly after graduation. His parents, Peggy and David Sokol, and his sister, Kelly Sokol Avery, donated $5 million toward the building’s construction.

Slated for a grand opening in January, the building includes state-of-the-art chemistry, physics and biology labs, math and engineering classrooms, a greenhouse, a new library and a storm shelter.  Read the Entire Article

Building nears completion: KETV 5pm Newscast

Omaha's KETV recently featured our new building on their 5:00 pm newscast.

View Television Broadcast

Construction Photos: Black-Out

Walkway with the Mount's Iconic Red & Black Cross

This blog entry features the last images (blackout) of the interior until the Grand Opening on January 15, 2018. Put that date on your calendar!  Details will follow as the date nears.

Funds and pledges are in place for completing the first floor.  Fundraising efforts are now focusing on raising money to keep work going on the 2nd floor.  If enough money can be raised in a timely fashion work on the 2nd floor will continue without pause and would be ready for the next school year.

The walkway between the the Benedictine Values Archway to the new building and the chapel has been completed. It features our iconic Mount Michael Cross in red and black concrete and brick.

From the second floor deck of the new building, the view of the Romanesque archway of the Mount's legacy building is spectacular. One of the surprises is that the new building's location provides a view that elicits an even greater appreciation for the beauty of Mount Michael's classic building.

The Theology classrooms on the 1st floor are currently getting their first coats of paint and ceiling grids are being hung. The hallway features red bump-outs at the classroom entries.

The storm shields have be hung above the windows in the reinforced study hall and classroom.

The Commons now features a huge tiled wall that gives it the look of marble.  Interior framing for the glass walls for the library, computer and drafting labs have been set in place.

When it is complete it is going to be awesome!  Save the date Monday January 15, 2018 and join us for the Grand Opening.

View all images

Exterior Nears Completion

The David "DJ" Sokol Learning for Life Building has come along ways this summer.

Exterior
The most obvious point of focus being worked on right now are the five arches etched with our five Benedictine Values of Community, Hospitality, Moderation, Integrity, and Service. Windows are another current undertaking.  Most of the windows are installed in the 2 story section of the building and are now being installed on in the rest of the building.  The two store windows for the commons will have to wait a bit as they are still using machinery indoors to install the geothermal heating and cooling units and the center stairwell.

Kevin Moline & Eric Roumph

Interior
The bottom floor of the two story section is nearing completion of construction with dry wall, electrical and plumbing all in place.  Soon it will be ready for cleaning up and paint. The one story section is now the focus of most of the interior work.

Friends
Of special note is the construction of the walkway with the Benedictine Cross.  The bricks are being installed by alums Kevin Moline '99 and Eric Roumph '99. The company Kevin Moline works for was contacted to do the brick work. Kevin talked to MECO and told them he would do it free on his own time as a donation to the project.   He brought his classmate Eric Roumph along to help out.   They were both classmates and close friends of DJ Sokol.

Interior Photos
Thank you to Sam Lathrop
for 2 panorama views

The walk way between the chapel and the new building features the Benedictine Cross

Bricks & Geothermal Wells Progressing

North Side Brick Work

More Photos

With the arrival of spring weather, work on the David "DJ" Sokol Living for Life Building is picking up momentum.

The brick layers are moving along on the the north side and turning the corning on the front.  The race is on for the other crews to keep ahead of them.

Cement floors are completed in the two-story section of the building and they are pushing hard on getting the remainder or the steel up in the Southeast corner.

Southwest of the building the geothermal well field is nearing completion.

Construction Update & Photos

The chapel cross appears to rest on the new building as workers install precast on the east side of the building.

Construction So Far

As winter begins to fade construction on the David "D.J." Sokol Learning for Life building is heating up.  The roof on the 2 story section is nearing completion and soon the cement slab will be poured for the ground level of that part of the building. The steel structure for the new math rooms and computer labs is done and they are now framing some of the exterior walls and setting more precast in place. Before the end of the month brick work should begin.

Click on the blue print  "So Far" link to the right for a detailed look. Yellow is the 2 story construction. Red indicates the extent of steel structure completion for the single story section. The science rooms and library only have partial footings set in place at this time.  Construction Photos

Besides the building construction the new water well is being drilled. (see photos)

Peering through the commons and entrance looking west stands the chapel. 

2nd Floor and What's Next

Additional Photos

The 2nd Floor was poured on Friday December 2nd.  Above you can see workers prepping the floor in November

What is that?   This past summer it was discovered that the well contained in the small brick building (far right) was collapsing and no longer repairable. It has lasted 60 years and been relined many times as is normal. But it is no longer feasible to fix it so a new well is being drilled and the well house will be renovated and updated.  It will be up-to-date and meet all the latest code requirements.   Estimated Cost is around $200,000.  The 2nd larger well house was recently modernized and is in great condition. Our two well system will provide plenty of water security for the future. 

Now that the 2nd floor is poured siding has begun for the two story section of the building.  The area that has only plastic sheeting is an interior wall where the one story south wing is soon to be attached.  They are working on more footings for that section at this time.  Additionally lots of steal has been delivered the last few days.  The goal currently stands to have the building completely enclosed sometime in January. 

Plumbing in the ground for the 2 story wing is almost ready for inspection and then electrical work in the ground will begin.

The south wing soon to be started will be impressive in that it actually has a larger foot print than what has been built up to this time.

Framing & Footings Progress

October was a great month for construction, dry and sunny.  The project is still running a little behind schedule but they are working from dawn to dusk and Saturday mornings taking advantage of the good weather.  Winter is coming.

The top of the tornado shelter was recently poured. It is noticeable when looking at the live feed. They are now working on prepping for pouring the floor of the 2nd level.  They will place corrugated steel as the base and frame forms around that.

Recently the west and south footings have been poured.  The east footing will come last when they are done with using heavy equipment in the interior.

They are also starting to fill in the framework with metal strips that will hold the exterior walls.

It might not be noticeable but they are also working on plumbing digging trenches and setting pipes.

They hope to have the entire building enclosed sometime in January and will then work on brick laying throughout the rest of the winter and spring.  More Photos

Building Progress: In the Ground

The nice smooth building site is transforming into a lumpy mess.  Such is what makes progress!

Green, gray, and black conduit, water, and Sewer lines are now scattered around the building site.

Changes are not particularly visible to the naked eye but anyone who has checked the live videocam regularly have seen steady work.   Most of the progress is "in the ground".  Slowly but surely conduit, water and sewer lines are being laid.  Footings continue to be dug and the first cement blocks are on sight for the construction of the elevator shaft.  More Photos

A ladder pokes up from the bottom of the elevator shaft.

Cement Block and Mortar for the Elevator Shaft

Outside of the fenced construction site a line is being run from the school site that will carry rainwater from the roof to the retention pond below the school near Mount Michael Road.  More Photos

Rainwater Retention Pond

The Site is ready. Now what?

The last couple of weeks the building site has been pretty quiet. Is anything happening?

A few trailers and storage bins have been set in place and utilities have been extended to the site beyond that most of the work is behind the scenes.

The architectural firm BCDM is busy completing shop drawings and Meco-Henne the general contractor is ordering materials. A construction fence will be put up in the near future and then construction will begin in earnest.

Construction will first commence in the northeast corner and work outward from there.  The reason for that location is that the study hall and one classroom located in this quarter will have special reinforcement features as a storm shelter built to withstand a force 3 tornado.  As footing sections are completed masonry crews will begin laying block. another early work will be the elevator pit. Footings for the building should be completed around mid-October with block work continuing on through November.  Temporary enclosures will be created in December to allow brick work to continue through the winter.  Drywall will start sometime after spring break and the summer and fall will be devoted to the interior.

Everything is on schedule for opening for the 2nd semester of the the 2017-2018 school year as planned.

Dirt & Dust

For anyone who was watching the live webcam this week it is clear that the primary theme was "Dirt & Dust".  The week was dry with temperatures in the 90's which is great for getting work done but there was a steady stream of dust in the air as four long dumpers deposited uncountable loads of dirt to be packed and leveled.

Also going on this past week was work on moving one of the light post which is being move a little bit south to make room for an additional road along the south and east sides of the new building. The road is a building code regulation so that firetrucks have access to all sides of the new building.

Extension of the the exsisting rainwater culvert about 25 yards and the building of a rainwater basin to hold run-off from the new building roof were also projects underway.

It looks like site prep is finished or close to finished and ready to move on to construction. There should be some surveying work going on real soon.

More Photos

Fill Dirt Added To Building Site

Dirt being moved from south campus to the construction site.

Starting on Friday June 4 fill dirt was being added to the building site. The source of this fill dirt is from another place on the Mount Michael grounds located behind the tree line south of the water treatment plant and apple orchard.  It's entrance is directly across from the intersection of Mount Michael Road and the schools drive way.  

They made lots of progress on Friday but a heavy down pour of over one inch of rain Friday evening left things pretty muddy. Never-the-less the work crew was back at it on Saturday.  They scrapped the muddiest top layer to the ends of the site to dry and commenced where they left off.

The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building will be on slightly higher ground than the existing building once all the dirt is hauled in and compacted.   It is estimated that it will take about 50 uncountable loads to provide enough material for the desired elevation.    

More Photos: Site Prep - Fill Dirt 

Dirt dumped on the construction site to raise the elevation

Site Preparation

Dirt work has begun and will take about 10 working days.  If the weather cooperates this first stage should be done sometime in the first week of June.

During this phase they are removing trees, removing some old no longer used cable that is buried in the area and leveling, raising and packing dirt.

The Live WebCam is now available  with links on the School Homepage, News Blog and this Construction Blog.

Blessed & Broken

View More Architect Drawings 

The Feast of the Archangels is always a notable event at the Mount but this year it had much greater significance than usual.   This day marked the groundbreaking and blessing of the site for The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building.  Many guests were in attendance including school board members, donors, families and friends. Of special note was the presence of Peggy Sokol the mother of DJ Sokol ‘99 in whose memory the building is named.

Archbishop Lucas Blesses The Building Site 

Because of a larger crowd for this year’s special events the feast day Mass was held in the Gymnasium instead of the Chapel.  Archbishop George Lucas was the celebrant for the Eucharist.  During the service the Archbishop also mandated 6 students as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. They were juniors Zach Cairney, Jean-Marie Djidjoho, Joe Coldiron, Patrick Halpin, Drew Goddard, and Michael Ecker.

After Mass everyone proceeded to the construction site.  For the blessing the students stood along an outline of the school as the Archbishop sprinkled holy water at the future entrance.  Students then were each given vials of holy water and dispersed to sprinkle holy water throughout the site.   The student kept the vials as mementos of the occasion.

In the evening a large crowd again gathered at the construction site this time for a ground breaking ceremony.  Numerous talks were giving noting the school history and thanking supporters past and present for making Mount Michael the great school that it is.  Peggy Sokol was presented with a framed rendition of the architects drawing of The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building.  Many of DJ’s classmates from 1999 posed with Mrs. Sokol for a photograph.

Formal Ground Breaking Ceremony 

Ten individuals partook of the formal ground breaking ceremony representing various parts of the Mount Michael community.  They were Andrew Collins ’01, President of the Alumni Assoc.; Greg Stieren ’00 of BCDM, Todd Rohweder, School Board President; Michael Fischer ’16, Student Council President; Dr. David Peters, Head of School; Peggy Sokol, Abbot Michael ’68, Fr. Daniel Hendrickson ’89, President of Creighton University; Jim Classe ’84 of Prochaska & Associates, and John Levy representing DJ’s class of 1999.

At the conclusion of the formal ceremony students, faculty and families broke out their shovels to turn a little dirt!

The current construction timeline calls for finalized plans by the end of October with construction bids going out in November.  Some preliminary ground work might be done this fall but the actual construction start is slated for March.  The goal is for completion for the 2017-2018 school year. The Architects for The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building are Prochaska & Associates and BCDM.

More Photos:   Mass & Blessing - Ground Breaking - Ground Breaking Photos by Nellie

Sokols Gift Mount Michael $5,000,000

Mount Michael Benedictine announced this week that the school received the largest single gift since its inception in 1970.  To honor their son and brother, DJ Sokol, philanthropists, David and Peggy Sokol and Kelly Sokol Avery donated $5,000,000 for a new school building.  The building will be named The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building.  DJ Sokol was a 1999 alumnus of Mount Michael Benedictine School who lost his heroic battle to cancer in June of that same year.

D. J. Sokol '99

Over the years the Sokol family has been very generous to our monastic community and school; donating funds to renovate the chapel, the student union (Armory), the sophomore floor and other important projects.  Additionally they were the single largest donors to the new wing of the Abbey Building, completed in 2007.  The Sokols believe in the power of education for young men.  They have invested in Mount Michael Benedictine because our students absorb and reflect the Benedictine values of Community, Moderation, Hospitality, Integrity and Service.  The first stage of the Now is the Time campaign allowed us to replace a Waste Water Treatment Facility and to increase our endowment for the operation of the school by $2,000,000.  Additionally the freshman dormitory was renovated and a new shower room installed.

The capital campaign currently maintains a $2,100,000 balance including cash and pledges.  With the addition of this gift we have $7,100,000 and will break ground on The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building in the fall of 2015.  Along with other classrooms this building will feature a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Center, new Media Center and Computer Lab. The goal will be for this building to open during the 2017-18 school year.

The Sokol family hopes to encourage matching gifts from alumni, our Mount Michael family and other potential donors.  We still need your help to complete this project.  No gift will be too small.  With a concerted and combined effort we are confident that we will move from vision to reality.

Please feel free to contact Mrs. Kim Volpone at 402.253.0964 or email her at kvolpone@mountmichael.org to donate or volunteer to help us in this endeavor.  In addition to your financial support we truly need your prayers and assistance.

Below is a preliminary sketch showing the new building in relationship to the current campus. The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building is illustrated to the right of the current facility.  Prochaska & Associates and BCDM will be the Architects for this project.