St. Jude boiler quits, will soon be replaced

St. Jude Thaddeus School is slated to get an upgrade after its boiler called it quits.

The Rev. Daniel J. Wathen, the pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Church and superintendent of the school, said the boiler crashed Wednesday and they expect to begin repairs in the next few days.

He said they have been asking local donors and alumni for assistance with the costs of the project. Recently, they raised $15,000, which the alumni matched.

“That will help us with some of the repair work,” Wathen said.

Until then, the school is getting its heating from a temporary boiler that is situated in a truck outside the school.

“The boiler on the truck is able to connect right into the system,” he said.

He said they are just waiting to hear what the replacement will cost so they can make plans to start. He said about a year ago, they spoke to an engineer, so that will help them with their preparations.

“We knew it was going to go at some point,” Wathen said. “ … We had plans kind of set up.”

He said the timing for this worked out pretty well, as they had recently removed the asbestos off the boiler and were anticipating this event.