It took more than four years for construction to start on the $83 million Villa St. Benedict independent- and assisted-living facility in southwest suburban Lisle, but now it's well under way and should be complete by fall 2005.

Paul H. Schwendener Inc. was named construction manager in December 1998 for the project on the campus of Sacred Heart Monastery, but the building activity did not start until August 2003, said Daniel Rubel, vice president of construction for the Westmont-based firm.

advertisement

The delay came after years of explosive development in DuPage County ultimately brought strict planning requirements, especially in stormwater management.

"Over the past 50 to 75 years, as this area developed, no one paid much attention to stormwater runoff and detention," Rubel said. "It's caught up with us now."

As a result, three years were spent on the stormwater system's design as village and development engineers pitched proposals back and forth. (Before that, a year was used for programming.)

Design approvals came through, and the stormwater system has elements that include more than a dozen underground lines, three water-detention cells and other structures.

The water pipes, some of which are 60 in. wide, channel runoff to interconnected detention cells.

The cells' depth differs to allow the water to be carefully metered. Cell 1, the shallowest, feeds Cell 2, the next shallowest. Cell 3, the deepest, directs the runoff to an overflow structure that looks like a "Roman aqueduct."

The overflow structure feeds the runoff to a creek leading to the DuPage River.

The stormwater system is such an important project element that about five acres - or 20 percent of the 25 acres under development - are used for the system, Rubel said.

Preparing the Site

The team jumped on the work as soon as project permits were issued.

An armada of equipment started excavation in late summer 2003 and continued until "the snow started flying," Rubel said. Trenches were dug for the storm sewers and separate sanitary lines, pipe was laid and the holes were backfilled.

Cuts were made for a half-dozen roads, and gravel was put down. The soil was compacted for 23 independent-living cottages, and the basement was excavated for the multiunit Villa Center.

In total, about 150,000 to 200,000 yds. of soil were moved during the sitework. Approximately 25,000 yds. of excess was produced, and a portion went next door to Benedictine University, which needed dirt.

A Legacy of Hospitality

The Benedictine Sisters of the Sacred Heart, who were formed in Chicago in 1895, initiated the development to fulfill their ministry of hospitality.

The order also needs income, said Glenn Trembley, CEO of Villa St. Benedict. "They need to fulfill their ministry and have a revenue stream for their retirement," he added.

The cost to maintain the monastery exceeds income in part because of the building's age. It was originally opened in 1911, and the last of two additions was finished in 1928.

Independent living will be offered in cottage and multiunit dwellings.
The cottages - 18 duplexes and five fourplexes - will provide 56 units.

Excluding garage space, each will house at least 1,200 sq. ft. of space and amenities that include a choice of finishes as well as a patio and landscaping.

The largest structure, the four-story, 250,000-sq.-ft. Villa Center, will provide 141 units in one- and two-bedroom configurations that range between 575 and 1,440 sq. ft. Amenities include 62 basement parking spaces, recreation and other common spaces.

In mid-September 188 of the 197 independent living spaces were leased, Trembley said. The life leases range between $143,000 and $328,000.
Occupancies might occur this year, but the project is expected to be finished in early fall 2005.

Residents will live near other institutions that derive their roots from the same faith tradition, including the university, St. Procopius Abbey and Benet Academy high school.

The existing 76,000-sq.-ft. monastery, which is east of the new cottages, will be converted to assisted living in studio and one- and two-bedroom layouts. The 33 new monastery units will supplement the 32 existing units.

The sisters will leave the existing units and move to the monastery gymnasium, which is being converted to hold 26 studio apartments. Steel was erected at the gymnasium's middle height to create a new floor.

There are other project elements, including some renovation of the chapel and landscaping.

A Respectful Design

Design elements were incorporated in living units to ensure the new structures are compatible with the existing ones.

For instance, the cottages feature dormers and brown brick to duplicate the monastery, said Mark Higgins, executive vice president of the project's architect, Omaha, Neb.-based The Schemmer Associates Inc. The Villa Center's roof will be green, also like the monastery, though materials other than clay tiles will be installed.

Building layout was selected for appropriateness. The Villa Center points west toward Yackley Avenue to avoid overwhelming the grotto - modeled after the famed grotto in Lourdes, France - on the campus' southwest that a former employee started in 1928 with the help of two teenage orphans.

The Villa Center is made up of three wings, and residents will have access to the monastery, where the stunning chapel is located, via hallways on the first and second levels that connect the two buildings.

A "barely perceptible" incline over 50 ft. long was incorporated in the corridors between the buildings to account for the monastery's varying floor-to-floor heights, Higgins said. One level has an 11-ft., 8-in. floor-to-floor height, and the other has a 12-ft., 8-in. floor-to-floor height.

"It's complex to connect two large buildings like that, line up the floors and make it work without ramps," he added.

The respectfulness exhibited in the design extended to other project areas, Trembley said. Work usually stopped at 3 p.m. so that evening prayers were recited without the sounds of construction.

The project means a great deal to members of the development team because of their roots in the community. In fact, Michael Schwendener, the chief of the construction management firm, installed porches on the monastery in the 1970s.

80-Year-Old Footprints

Some issues have arisen during the monastery's renovation.

Rubel said that one part of the gymnasium foundation was found to be shallower than expected, and it is being reinforced with micropiles to handle the steel installed above for the intermediate floor.

Moreover, some concrete slabs were found to be unfinished when the wood finishing was pulled up.

"There were 80-year-old footprints in the slab," he added.