A $6.5 million capital campaign, “Building Our Faith, Our Community and Our Future” prioritizes the modernization and adherence to safety codes of the high school building. As of March 19, nearly $2 million has been raised.

The infrastructure behind the walls, under the floors and ceilings has surpassed its life and must be replaced.

Projects to ensure the building is up to the task of educating students for future decades include:

Phase 1: updating Cathedral High School infrastructure, $6.5 million include installing an energy-efficient HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, replacing plumbing and adding a fire suppression sprinkler system and upgrading the electrical system and panels to increase capacity and reliability.

Heymann Construction Company of New Ulm was the primary contractor when New Ulm Cathedral High School was built from 1952 to 1954.

Along with infrastructure updates, the building interior would receive a facelift, making it look and feel like new.

“We are in an active phase of campaign fundraising in which 40 campaign volunteers are making followup contacts with potential contributors to the campaign,” said New Ulm Area Catholic Schools President Sister Julie Brandt.

“Informational open houses and cultivation events have occurred in which we invited people to see for themselves the needs of our high school building. Overall, we have a high degree of support for this project. A preliminary planning study a year ago showed more than 90% of those interviewed or who responded to a survey supported the needs of the campaign,” she said.

As a Catholic school, the Diocese of New Ulm requires NUACS to have 75% of the needed funds on hand before beginning the project. The project could be broken down into different parts to allow for initial work to be completed as funds continue to be collected.

“While we will be collecting campaign contributions over three years, we want people to make campaign contributions by the end of June so we can continue to plan for the project to begin in the summer of 2026,” Brandt said.

Second phase plans include creating shared St. Anthony Elementary School and Cathedral space. While the current capital campaign is focused on the needs to update the high school space, school leaders are looking toward a second phase that would potentially create a shared, connector building between the elementary and high school.

School leaders say NUACS is growing and running out of high school and elementary school space.

Constructing a connector building between the two schools will solve several space and accessibility issues and unify the campus.

The school is developing plans for this phase. Once both phases are complete, the campus would provide a safe, more modern, ADA (American Disabilities Act)-compliant facility, provide more classroom space, address meeting and performance space needs and relocate high school locker rooms.

Upgrades built into the addition will provide a safe, more modern, ADA (American Disabilities Act)-compliant facility, address meeting and performance space needs and provide more classroom space and relocate high school locker rooms.

“We are in an active phase of campaign fundraising in which the 40 campaign

For more information including giving multiple methods, visit https://www.nuacs.com/capital-campaign