St. Edna Catholic Church Parish Center, Arlington Heights, IL

JNKA recently completed a new Parish Center addition to St. Edna Church in Arlington Heights. The new multi-purpose gymnasium provided a long-awaited setting for athletic activities and parish events, including concerts, theater productions, and youth ministry activities; and features a stage, dressing rooms, and a full kitchen to support special events. The new facility also eliminated the constant need to reconfigure existing spaces in the Doherty and Hurley Centers and allowed those to be dedicated to small meeting rooms and religious education. The exterior of the center blends-in with the existing church building, including the gabled roof elements and low flat roofs that mimic the existing roof lines which visually tie the parish campus together. Designed as a precast concrete structure, the exterior colors and finishes also match the existing church building.