First Monolithic Dome School in Florida Opens
August 2002
by Freda Parker
Opening Day Excitement
Nevertheless, excited shouts and ohs and ahs of wonder permeated the air. It was the first day of school -- a school of unique round buildings.
The Domes
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On its 17 acres this summer, the Catholic Diocese of Venice, Florida completed Phase I of a three-phase building project that will eventually encompass seven Monolithic Domes at the Bishop Nevins Academy.
Designed by Architect Rafael Moreu, president of Moreu & Associates, Maitland, Florida, each of the domes is a two-story structure with stem walls. Ray Haddad, associate director of the Venice Diocese Building Commission said, "All our domes are roundabouts with vertical walls. The Monolithic Dome actually begins at the ring beam, atop the wall, to which the Airforms were attached."
Dave Kocher of D.E. Murphy Constructors, Inc., a full service general contracting and construction management firm, headquartered in Sarasota, was project manager. He said that the stem walls are cast-in-place, reinforced concrete, about eight inches thick.
Once the walls were in place, Ryan Poole supervised a team from DOMTEC International, LLC., a major dome builder based in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Poole's team attached the Airforms and completed each Monolithic Dome.
Despite the fact that the Monolithic Domes at Bishop Nevins Academy are a first for the state of Florida, the Catholic Diocese of Venice, and some of the professionals responsible for their design and construction, all went very well. Ray Haddad said, "Everything went according to plan and we're happy with it. D.E. Murphy and DOMTEC International did a super job for us."
Dave Kocher said, "It's very unique construction and I'm glad I went through it." And Ryan Poole commented, "It was a good job. Murphy was a good contractor to work with. We had no problems. It all went very smoothly."
The Campus
Father Fausto Stampiglia, the Academy's pastor, said that their new $12.8 million campus actually serves two schools: St. Martha Catholic School and Dreams Are Free .
St. Martha's occupies Dome B which has a diameter of 140 feet and classrooms for students in pre kindergarten through grade eight.
Dreams Are Free is a non-graded school with programs for special-needs children, six to fifteen years old, and also functions as a training center for teachers. It's housed in Dome F, a structure with 11,500 square feet of flexible class space within its 124-foot diameter.
Dome E (124' diameter), with its state-of-the-art kitchen serves as a cafeteria for both schools.
A chapel with an impressive skylight is the central core of Dome A (128' diameter), the Academy's Wren Pavilion. In addition to the chapel, Dome A has administrative offices, computer labs and a library on its ground floor and classrooms above.
A conventionally built, air conditioned mall, 300 feet long and 50 feet wide connects the domes and functions as a common area for school assemblies and public and social functions.
"Right now, at both schools we have 508 students enrolled," Father Stampiglia said. "But what we foresee is to have eventually about 720 students.
"We could have more now, but the City of Sarasota won't let us, until they complete their traffic study which they have to do while the schools are operating," Father explained. "Meanwhile, we're happy with the domes. Everybody is truly impressed, and we are getting much attention from the media. Television people have been here several times and will be here again when we have our official inauguration on October 4."
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