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4-14-2020
Over the last 10 days we have begun to see a few workers on our property in Boone as they undertake some preliminary work leading to our building project.  Below are a few points that indicate where we are at:

• We have pretty much finished up on our Building Design Committee meetings.  Michael Brothers has done a great job keeping us on task. It was hard work to get every detail into our 2.5-million-dollar budget.  We had to make some very difficult decisions and some of the design features that we had dreamed of had to be eliminated. We will have a beautiful building that will serve our parish needs for many generations to come. 

• One of the things that we struggled with was the cost of all of the kitchen equipment. Kitchens are expensive.  At this time, we are planning on wiring and plumbing our kitchen space, but we had to pull out all of the appliances from our contract cost so that we could stay within budget.  We will have to do a little mini campaign to try and raise funds for our stoves and ovens, dishwasher and other small appliances. The cost of this equipment is about $75,000.00

• Another portion of the project that we have had to put on hold is the planned remodeling of the narthex of our church.  We hope to be able to complete that portion of the project along with new storm windows on the church as funds become available. 

• Our new building will cross the alley that runs north to south through our property.  Many months ago, the city of Boone allowed us to take possession of that property. We have begun the process of re-routing the utilities that presently run down the alley.  Aliant Energy, Mediacom and Century Link will be bringing their utilities underground and around to the alley south of the school. In addition, the city is doing some work to strengthen the storm sewer access along 12th Street.  Many thanks to Randy Schmitz who has worked long and hard to help bring these complicated changes to completion.  The utility companies have been working on site for nearly a week and a half. 

• Story Construction is our builder and we are grateful for the hard work that they have put into the project.  They promise us that they will put their full crews to work as soon as possible. They believe that we can count on a 7-month building project so if all goes well and we can move ahead during the virus crisis then we might be looking at a December to early January occupancy.  Let’s all pray that the virus difficulties will not postpone work on the project. 

• Many months ago, we planned for an early April “Groundbreaking Ceremony”. Following our Governor’s request to eliminate social gatherings we have decided to forgo that ceremony and instead plan a picnic on our grounds sometime in July so that we can all examine the progress and celebrate with the workers and their families. 

• This week a crew has been working to replace the gutters on our parish office building.  The gutters were nearly 65 years old and had developed multiple leaks and parts of the wooden facia had rotted away completely.  This deterioration allowed water to get into the attic and permitted water to pool near the foundation of the building which in turn was causing water damage to the inside of the basement.  Once we decided to keep this great old building for the future it has become necessary to undertake some long-deferred maintenance projects. We hope to be able to complete the gutter project next week. 

• You will notice that a bit of work has been done to create a small parking area just to the west of the parish office building along 12th Street.  Within the next couple of weeks a fence will be constructed around the perimeter of the construction site.  This fencing will preclude us from using the parking area behind the offices and will make accessing the east door somewhat difficult.  The temporary parking area will provide off street parking for both our staff and for people visiting our offices. 

• We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the members of our Building Project Design Committee.  For more than a year this committee has been meeting regularly to help us put designs down on paper.  Randy Milbrath of RDG, our architect, the team from Story Construction and our committee members have worked very well together.  Special thanks to the Design Committee members: Mike Brothers, Chair, Kathy Becker, Fr. Ross Caniglia, Deb Franzenburg, Pat Henkel, Fr. Brian Hughes, Charlie Kostelnick, Monica Pearson, Betty Ann Schmitz, Dean Steffen, Tom Venner.  While the members of our Design Committee have done a great deal of work, we have also enjoyed the services of many parish members who served on various subcommittees during the initial planning phase of the project. 

The beginning of our parish hall construction project is the culmination of many years of planning, saving and dreaming.  Over and over again, we want to thank the many folks whose generosity has made this beautiful project possible. Our long-awaited dream is within our grasp.  May God bless and protect every worker and tradesmen who will be working on our new building.