Managing Construction of the Campus' Crown Jewel
(Winter 2007 Newsletter)
The walls of the apse of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel
now rise more than 40 feet over the surrounding treetops. Each passing
day brings this crown jewel closer to the time when it will preside
over the Thomas Aquinas College campus as a treasure of beauty,
grandeur, permanence, and tradition.
A project of this scope requires a manager to see it through to
completion. The College has been fortunate to enlist the services
of Mr. Randy Fulton, Executive Vice President of Stegman and Kastner
Inc., a construction management firm based in Santa Monica, California,
to play this critical role in the construction process. Mr. Fulton
is also overseeing the construction of the adjacent faculty center,
begun simultaneously, with that of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity
Chapel.
Mr. Fulton’s firm seeks out projects in the Los Angeles area
that are complex and interesting, including the expansion of the
California Science Center in Exposition Park, the construction of
a new resort in Beverly Hills, and the building of a hands-on recreational
complex adjacent to the Los Angeles Children’s Museum. Mr.
Fulton was introduced to the College by Chairman of the Board of
Governors Mrs. Maria Grant, whose husband, Richard, the Executive
Director of the Dan Murphy Foundation, served on the steering committee
for the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
in Los Angeles. In that capacity, Mr. Grant became familiar with
the services of Stegman and Kastner and with Mr. Fulton, who managed
the Cathedral project.
Says Mr. Peter DeLuca, Vice President for Finance and Administration,
“Since 1989 we have built 10 buildings on the campus, and I
have been happy to have the opportunity to oversee the construction
of a number of them. This time, not only because of the far more
complex nature of the Chapel, but also due to the concurrent construction
of the faculty center, we thought it best to employ Mr. Fulton to
assist us.”
From the beginning, Mr. Fulton has worked closely with Mr. DeLuca
on budget, cost, and construction issues, staying in close touch
by phone and email throughout the week and spending at least one
day a week on campus meeting with the architect, Rasmussen &
Associates, and the contractor, HMH. He also confers periodically
with the design architect, Duncan Stroik, at the University of Notre
Dame. In addition, he apprises at regular intervals the President
and the Chairman and members of the Board of Governors.
“My primary responsibility,” explains Randy, “is
to keep Mr. DeLuca, President Dillon, and the members of the Board
as well-informed of project status and issues as I can. I try to
take complicated issues and simplify them, using laymen’s terminology
if necessary, and then recommend courses of action or decisions.
From there, I implement those decisions and move the project in
the direction I’m provided.”
Mr. Fulton’s firm chose to work on the Chapel project in part
because of its unique architecture. As Randy explains, “Though
it may be an oxymoron to say that Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity’s
traditional Romanesque architecture is unique, it is certainly the
case that to do something like this today is unique. It’s a
wonderful thing to see this architecture coming back for this facility.”
In addition, the structural systems chosen for the Chapel were
of special interest to Randy and his firm. “This sort of masonry
sheer wall construction for the perimeter and the steel and wood
support systems for the interior, including the roof and the dome,
are unusual for a building of this type,” he says. “It’s
a very cost-effective, permanent type of construction. Frequently,
on this scale, there is a desire to go to other materials that might
be cheaper, but only in the short run. When you look at the life-cycle/cost-analysis
of a structure like this that is intended to be permanent, you have
to balance durability of systems, looking 50 years down the road,
with cost. In my opinion, you have a very permanent building here.”
Mr. Fulton was also attracted to the project because it incorporates
liturgical architecture rarely seen today such as the baldacchino
over the altar and the cruciform shape.
Like nearly every other project with which Randy has been associated,
there have been some unexpected costs. As he explains, “It
was impossible to predict three years ago what would transpire in
the global economy in terms of costs of materials as well as local
influences that have affected the availability of labor, but with
75% of the Chapel’s outer construction complete, the risk of
unexpected costs is significantly diminished.”
Soon the east façade of the Chapel will be adorned with
Indiana limestone, and the color choices made in the planning stages
will be manifest. Contrasting hues will be found in the marble statues
of the Blessed Mother, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine that
will be placed in prominent locations on the façade.
The College is grateful to Mr. Fulton for his expertise and his
good management of this singular project and looks forward to working
with him to bring it to completion.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Winter 2007
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