The new St. Matthew the Evangelist Catholic Church on South 36th Street in Bellevue, Nebraska was completed in the fall. Originally, the Cardinal Spellman School site, which is adjacent to the Church, was opened in 1963. The Saint Matthew Parish was established in 1996 and in 1998 a gymnasium was added to the school designed by our firm, which served as the temporary location for St. Matthew Catholic church services. Mass has been held in the gymnasium for the past 22 years.

St. Matthew’s Church seats 700-800 people. The design was based on a fan shaped catholic church with glu-laminated wood trusses supported by four custom painted stone columns, two stained glass rose windows, and a baptismal font located at the rear of the church between the entry doors to the Nave. The Baptismal Font has recirculating water which is cleansed using a UV light system and drained into a French Drain thus allowing the holy water to go back into the earth. There is an intimate Chapel located behind the Sanctuary. The Chapel can be seen from the Nave through a wall of glass behind the Sanctuary. Hanging from the glu-laminated truss above the Altar is a custom crafted bronze crucifix mounted on a rustic cherry cross which compliments the Altar furnishings.

The Lower Level is the new location for the Parish Offices. In the near future, it will also be home to the Parish Fellowship Hall and full serving Kitchen, as well as three Conference Rooms and Restrooms. The Fellowship Hall can also be separated into individual classrooms for religious education or meeting rooms.

St. Matthew’s Church is unique in that it is not constructed of typical building materials. The exterior walls are Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF walls). They are brought to the site as 4' x 16” high insulated panels that are stacked together to form a wall. The forms consists of an interior and exterior layer of 2 5/8” thick insulation making the entire building highly well insulated. After the forms are in place, concrete is poured between the layers of insulation, thus creating a strong, highly insulated wall. Drywall, EIFS and brick are easily attached as finishes for the interior and exterior of the Church.