Storm Lake council advances St. Mary’s school expansion plan

A five-foot slice of city right-of-way on Second Street became the key to St. Mary’s next expansion phase in Storm Lake. The Storm Lake City Council voted Monday, May 19, 2026, to move forward with the school’s request to buy the narrow strip between Seneca and Cayuga, land St. Mary’s says it needs for new entry stairs and an ADA-accessible ramp.

Architect Patrick Schnell of FEH Design told council members the strip is not a minor cosmetic fix. He described it as the first step in a 10-year plan to modernize the campus and improve access to the gymnasium, one of the school’s most heavily used spaces for athletics, graduations and community events. St. Mary’s Catholic School sits at 312 Seneca Street, putting the project squarely on a visible edge of downtown Storm Lake.

The council action did not finish the deal, but it moved the request into the city’s formal right-of-way process. Storm Lake’s application materials say the city reviews closure requests and, if one is approved, issues a press release. Adjacent and affected property owners must also be notified. In practical terms, the public would give up only the thin strip needed for the stairs and ramp, while the city would retain the rest of the street corridor and the authority built into its review process.

The land request is tied to a much larger, donor-backed renovation push already underway at St. Mary’s. The school announced a $1.5 million campaign in January 2026 for the community gym entrance and first floor of the high school, with leaders saying construction could begin in summer 2026. By early February, the campaign had raised $579,060, including a $250,000 leadership gift from the St. Mary’s Foundation. On March 14, the school’s Ball and Charity Auction at The Forum at Buena Vista University pushed the total past $1.3 million.

Published accounts have given conflicting dates for the high school addition, citing both 1956 and 1964, but the larger point is the same: the entrance, locker areas and first-floor spaces have gone decades without major updating. The renovation plan calls for relocating the coach’s office, concession stand and restrooms, along with new lockers, flooring, doors, trophy cases, ceilings and the west staircase. If the city finalizes the right-of-way transaction, Storm Lake will have signaled that a small transfer of public land can be used to unlock a larger nonprofit project, a model other local institutions may look to when they seek similar expansions along tight urban frontages.