Organized Labor

Construction of a new multi-use parish center for Saint Stephen Catholic Parish just north of San Francisco State on Eucalyptus is nearing completion. The all-union job was begun by Nibbi Brothers in June 2008.

Jim Cook, parish manager, said work would be completed by the end of November. The facility will feature a gymnasium on the top floor and a large social hall on the lower floor, which can be converted into smaller meeting rooms. Nibbi Brothers General Contractors was chosen by the Archdiocese to build the new Parish Center in part because of their experience working on other school projects.

“Nibbi was highly recommended and has been a pleasure to work with. They have experience in school projects and put the safety of the students first,” Cook said. He added that the contractor adjusted its schedule so work would be finished before school is dismissed so trucks are not on site or traveling while students are leaving school.

The $7.5 million project was designed by Architect Robert W. Hayes of Sausalito. The building is concrete and metal framing with a gymnasium, bleacher seating and restrooms at street level. An assembly area, office spaces, storage and a kitchen with bathrooms will be located on the lower level. The exterior is a cement plastic finish with clay roof tiles. The original Donworth Hall that was built in 1951 at the site of the new facility was demolished. Cook said it was not significant historically and couldn’t be retrofitted; the ceiling was uneven and the old church didn’t meet preservation criteria architecturally. He said the new building would be twice the size of the old hall. “It will enable St. Stephen to improve and broaden its service and outreach to parishioners, school families and neighboring communities, and will facilitate access to St. Stephen-sponsored activities and events,” said Cook.

 Cook said the new building includes some energy efficient design elements. “The architect tried to make sure windows are temperature sensitive to open automatically,” he said. The parish looked into using a photovoltaic system but held off on incorporating solar into the project for now. Cook said they did design the roof so that it would be able to accept solar panels that will be installed later. Most of the roof is clay tile, so space for solar installation would be limited to a section that is flat or would need some extensive retrofitting later.

In early October, Nibbi was coordinating some of the finish work, including installation of the maple floor in the gymnasium and some additional concrete work. All the subcontractors are union and include HW Flooring for the maple flooring, Young Electric, Western Roofing, KZ Tile for the ceramic tile work, Core Concrete of Emeryville, and Marelich Mechanical out of Hayward for the HVAC systems. The small job averaged between 15 and 18 workers on the project daily with up to 34 at peak construction times.

Saint Stephen Parish was formed in 1950. Its school opened with 164 students in grades 1-5 in 1952, offering “values-based education,” educating children in “a nurturing, faith-filled environment, which addresses the spiritual and intellectual needs of each child,” according to the school. A new school wing opened in 2000. In 2006, the parish began a campaign to replace the old hall and raised funds through private donors and sale of two homes. Additional funding came from grants from the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation and the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.

Parish manager cook said that the job was going fine, and the parish was very happy with contractors.