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St. Charles Catholic Parish

Hartland, WI: Constructed by CCI and designed Zimmerman Architectural Studios, the church addition accommodates a growing congregation and school, and ensured a spiritual home and worship space for future generations. As the fifth largest parish in the Archdiocese, church leaders completed a feasibility study years ago and recognized that more space would be needed to fully support the surrounding Hartland area. “Our vision is to expand and upgrade our parish in a way that will best serve our parish and community,” stated St. Charles Pastor Fr. Ken Omernick. “We feel we are building a new traditional church that will make our parish and Hartland community proud.”

Expanding the St. Charles Catholic Parish into an architectural landmark demanded innovative solutions and strong team collaboration, ultimately resulting in a remarkable success. The project aimed to create a traditional yet energy-efficient church that reflects the parish’s Italian heritage. The Romanesque-style addition features a striking domed rotunda, a 100-ft bell tower, and intricate Italian-inspired elements like the Carrara marble altar. The church’s vibrant interior includes a choir loft, ornate hand-painted murals, restored stained-glass windows, and other beautifully designed religious-themed artistic elements. While the existing church and school had to remain operational, CCI worked in phases on parking lot expansions and rebuilding to work around school drop offs/pickups, as well as outdoor recess time. Some work was scheduled before or after school hours, and other phases were planned around church festivals.

Several highlights of the project included:

  • Church seating capacity will increase to 1,000 (currently 750), with the option to further expand in the future.
  • Creation of a dedicated Eucharistic Adoration Chapel available for prayer 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Dedicated child care space for use during Masses, parish meetings, and events.
  • Energy efficient upgrades.

This project was honored with a Projects of Distinction, Excellence in Construction Gold award from the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin.