The Sacred Heart School Bill Simon Memorial Shrimp Feed was held on Saturday, January 31, in Tiehen Gym. We have used the proceeds from the shrimp feed for various projects and causes over the years. The first year was for pole vault pits. Last year it went to the improvement of teachers’ salaries. In between it’s been used to pay for things like a new boiler, an activities bus, and a playground surface. This year it will be used for Tiehen Gym itself. Tiehen Gym is our $1,000,000 facility. Don’t laugh. You don’t think it’s worth a million dollars? It would cost well over that amount to replace it. It serves many, many purposes and is important for our school’s day-to-day operation. We have the gymnasium that is used for elementary PE classes and junior high volleyball and basketball practices. It is used frequently in the evening for elementary sports practices. Families rent it for birthday parties and gatherings. It houses our downstairs and upstairs Preschool classrooms. Our music room is at Tiehen. Our junior high locker rooms are used daily for practices and classes. The south addition that includes these two classrooms, restrooms, and locker rooms were added to Tiehen in 1990. The upper north locker rooms are used by our high school football teams. There is a coach’s room where many sports-related items are stored along with an ice machine. The stage is important for school performances as well as practices by our one-act students. There is a large storage area above the south classrooms that is very important to our school. The kitchen is used several times each year including the cooking of fish for the annual K of C Fish Fry as well as the SH Shrimp Feed. We would not be able to function as a school without this building. The doors are electronic access, which makes it a more secure building.
What are we spending money on at Tiehen? The renovation project includes the south restrooms and locker rooms that connect to the preschool and music rooms. We will be updating these four spaces along with the entryways to the locker rooms on both the east and west sides. The entire area will receive epoxy flooring, updated plumbing, and new restroom partitions. Part of this project also includes new windows installed in the upstairs north locker rooms. That work was done by Jim Hill’s for $7,000. We also plan to put gutter guards on the south gutters of the building. The estimated cost of this project is $30,000. Much of the work will be done by volunteers. If you would like to donate to this project, please contact Mr. Goltz or send a check to school titled “Tiehen Gym Renovation Project”.
The Tiehen cornerstone is dated 1924, so last year we celebrated Tiehen’s one-hundred years of existence. Father William Murphy, the first priest graduate and male graduate of Sacred Heart School, laid the cornerstone on November 3, 1924. Father John J. Hoffman dedicated the building upon its completion. It was all made possible by Sacred Heart’s great contributor of that time, Miss Catherine Tiehen, who donated $35,000 to pay the cost of construction. Recently alum, Dan Pfister, recoated the floor of the gym. A few years ago, the gym’s interior was upgraded with a new ceiling, new walls, and lights. A new stage curtain was donated by the Keithley family. The north restrooms were renovated two summers ago. Many people over the years have contributed to keeping Tiehen Gym a place our school can be proud of. Thank you, Catherine Tiehen, and thank you to all who have donated and worked to keep Tiehen an important part of our campus.
