For the past year, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and Student Center has been at a temporary location, but soon it will move back into its remodeled home.

The congregation will move into the renovated church and new student center at 2210 Lincoln Way on Feb. 19.

Ev Hemann, a priest at St. Thomas, said there are two parts to the construction.

“The main part is we are doubling the size of our student center, so that we can have more activities geared to the students at Iowa State,” he said. “The second part is we are also putting an addition to the sides of the church to make the building handicap accessible because presently it is not.”

The new student center will have several meeting rooms plus a library for studying and a lounge “where students can just come and hang out,” Hemann said.

“I would like to welcome any and all students to come in and see our new facility the week of Feb. 20,” he said.

Hemann said he thinks more ISU students will participate in the various church activities in the new center.

“It’s larger; we’ve got more facilities; we can offer more things simultaneously,” he said. “I think we’ll see more coming for activities other than worship.”

Hemann said some of the areas where he expects to see an increase in students are classes, faith-sharing groups and lectures.

John Donaghy, campus minister at St. Thomas, said he also thinks students will benefit from the new center.

“With the remodeling, it’ll be hopefully a place where students feel comfortable to relax and study and participate in our activities,” he said.

Over the course of a month, about 1,500 to 2,000 ISU students attend mass at St. Thomas, and another 80 to 100 take part in faith-sharing groups, he said.

Nicole Cortazzo, development coordinator for St. Thomas, said the renovated church will be more welcoming than the old facility.

“I think the building itself is going to be more inviting, so I think we’ll attract more people, whether they’re Catholic or not,” she said. “Just if they can walk in the door and see what we’re offering and what we do, it might give them an opportunity to be more involved with the church.”

Cortazzo said she has been raising money for the remodeling through alumni and parishioners, and students are invited to send the church donations.

“We’ve raised about $800,000, and we have another about $800,000 more to raise,” she said.

Hemann said the church is having a contest to name the new rooms in the center.

“What we’re asking students to do, is rather than just have numbers on rooms, to nominate some saints to have their name on the door,” he said.

Students can submit their choices of saints by Tuesday, he said. The names then will be voted on.