Bishop Mark E. Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston announced Friday that a $2 million project is being implemented to relocate Parkersburg Catholic Elementary to the high school campus. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — Bishop Mark E. Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston announced Friday that Parkersburg Catholic Schools is moving forward with a long-discussed plan to bring its elementary, middle and high school students together on a single campus, creating a unified school environment for students.

“It’s going to make this campus a unified campus from preschool all the way up to 12th grade,” Brennan said. “And in a beautiful setting. …We believe that Catholic education not only has a past and a present, but a future as well.”

To move the project forward — which is being named, “Crusaders: One Campus, One Community” — local supporters have been challenged to raise $500,000, which will then be matched with $1.5 million from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, for a total of $2 million.

“It really is exciting to see that we already have $75,000 towards our goal. So we’re doing really well, and it’s only been minutes since the announcement. That’s exciting,” Jennifer Hornyak, superintendent of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston said. “We have full confidence that we’re going to surpass that $500,000. We all know the building costs may be higher, and there’s all those things we want to improve, so I think we’re going to surpass that.”

Brennan said the existing building on the high school campus — once used as a preschool and later as a convent — will be renovated to house the elementary school. The high school building will also see upgrades.

Designs for a new consolidated campus for Parkersburg Catholic Schools were revealed Friday. The $2 million project looks to relocate the elementary school from downtown to the high school campus. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

“We’ve seen this now in board meetings for two years,” Don Smith, president of the Parkersburg Catholic Advisory Council, said. “When you start seeing the plan come together, and you see that all your hard work really comes to fruition, it feels nice to actually see it come together.”

Smith said community outreach has been strong so far, and enthusiasm for the project is building.

“We’re starting to see the commitment now, and we’ve seen a great community outreach and just a lot of excitement going on there for this,” he said.

Parkersburg Catholic High School Principal Jeff Mennillo said the project carries deep personal and community significance.

“I was here back in 1988 to 2005 and this was on the drawing board then. So this means a whole lot to our community,” Mennilo said. “It was kind of the vision of Bob Hackman, who was my mentor… it’s been on the drawing board two or three different times, and one thing or another happened, but it just never came to fruition.”

Parents look at designs for a new consolidated campus for Parkersburg Catholic Schools Friday. The $2 million project looks to relocate the elementary school from downtown to the high school campus. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Menilo believes that, under Bishop Brennan’s leadership, the long-delayed plan is finally becoming a reality.

“I think with Bishop Brennan’s leadership, I think it’s going to happen this time,” he said. “I think our community is really excited for the project, and I think it’s really positive for Catholic education.”

While momentum is building, Brennan said the school consolidation will not be immediate. He said the upcoming school year will still see the two schools operating at separate sites.

“It won’t happen all at once,” Brennan said. “It takes time to make all those renovations.”

He said, despite this, there is still a clear target date.

Parents, students and members of the community gathered in the Parkersburg Catholic High School gym Friday to hear about a $2 million project that looks to relocate the elementary school from downtown to the high school campus. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

“At least by the fall of 2027, we expect to have the two schools together on this campus,” Brennan said.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentienl.com