Our Lady of Grace School: Earning the Role of Trusted Partner

Opus’ relationship with Our Lady of Grace in Edina, Minn., started 20 years ago when we built a middle school addition for the parish. Since then, we've done at least a dozen projects for them, which is a testament to the value we bring as a partner they know they can rely upon.

Around 2010, we completely remodeled the elementary school, including all new mechanical and electrical systems. Other projects over the years have included remodeling their music room, adding an elevator, remodeling the altar area of the sanctuary, and adding security doors to protect the students and teachers. Our Lady of Grace calls Opus often when questions surface about their various facilities. Sometimes the questions are about projects that Opus can design and build for them, sometimes they are questions about past projects or existing facilities and systems, and other times they are seeking professional advice about something that they are already in the midst of.

For example, the HVAC systems in the 35-year-old church building were starting to fail. A targeted HVAC solution was in the client’s best interest, so Opus provided a complementary consultation and helped them obtain bids from subcontractors, evaluate them, and orchestrate the final solution.

At Opus, we work to become integrated with our clients so we truly understand their ongoing needs, and ultimately become a resource for virtually any project needs they might have – there really is no job too small. While we work on plenty of large and very large projects at Opus, we are always interested in helping our clients complete projects of every size – everything from remodeling a room or rooms, to more simply moving a door or repairing a wall – these things need to be done and we want to help.

By consistently delivering and exceeding expectations at all levels, we have become a trusted partner of Our Lady of Grace. Recently, they hired Opus to prepare a campus master plan that reflects their anticipated needs far into the future. Collaborating closely with parish leaders and constituents, our architecture and engineering group and our project management team members prepared a four-phase master plan. Phase one, which the parish was already planning, was a new residence for the priests. Phase two was a school addition with a large gymnasium and preschool. Phase three was improvements and additions to the sanctuary and the public areas, and phase four is another addition to the school. The Opus team led Our Lady of Grace through the master planning and city approval process – including obtaining approvals from the planning commission and city council last fall.

See more stories on our projects in the Education sector here.