The parish was designated with 250 families in 1946. In 1947, ground was broken for the school, which was built with the help of volunteers. Enrollment grew from 100 to 1,150 by the late ’50s. Many former parishioners moved to the suburbs in the early ’70s when center city highway construction caused neighborhood changes. The spirit of dedication and generosity of those who remained and of the new members permitted the building of the present church in 1976. Marianist Brother Mel Meyer created symbolic frescoes on the wet plaster of the interior and used recycled materials for the liturgical furnishings. Parishioners refinished the pews and carried them from the former basement worship space to the new church. When St. Francis de Sales closed in 1983, St. Andrew added part of that parish to its boundaries. Beginning in 1994, the parish was administered by a parish life coordinator, with a sacramental minister for liturgies.