Update on St. Mary’s School Floor Work

Pending a few final permits and a few more details, work could begin later this week on the St. Mary's School floor.

Back in July, pooling was noticed on some of the floors at the school, indicating floors that were no longer even or level. This could be traced to the Sheffield Tile system that had been used in constructing the school. Over the years it was found that the Sheffield Tile tended to deteriorate and become brittle with age, causing shifting and even dangerous situations. A Sheffield Tile floor had collapsed in Lanesboro, Minn., a number of years ago.

It was decided that the failing floor support system needed to be addressed and staff and students at St. Mary's were shifted to a part of the Pillsbury campus for classes.

Project Manager Al Christenson points out that each floor and each room in the school is unique and, as a result, there could be no blanket fix of the situation. Each room had to be addressed as an individual case. Some rooms were found to have tunnels underneath them while others have mechanics such as heating and electrical underneath.

Sections of St. Mary's were built in 1952, 1955 and 1957, which added to the uniqueness of each room and floor.

Father McGrath states that a number of meetings will be taking placing in the coming week or two in regards to raising money to pay for the repairs.

A target date for completion is set for sometime in July.