With Arms Open Wide: a timeline from 2017 to 2021

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Mike Malcom

The parish building committee has been working with various contractors since Spring of 2018 to design and build the new parish community center. The committee anticipates approval of permitting, the finalization of plans, and – most excitingly – construction crews moving dirt.

It may be helpful to newer parishioners to see the development of this building project.

In 2012, Father Jack Gleason created a Priority Planning Team that set out to discover what parishioners and staff saw as the projects most needed at the Church of Saint Mary. As part of that process, listening sessions were held in 2013, church staff and lay leaders were interviewed, and a Master Plan was developed. The bottom-line goal: to enable parishioners to engage more fully in their faith.

Click on the image to read the 2018 Case Statement, the vision for the building project.

The priorities that were made clear to the team started with the need to upgrade the parish facilities. A Facilities Committee was formed in 2013, the church sanctuary renovation was completed in 2015 and a flooring project for the church in 2017. Other recent facility enhancements include a hearing loop in the church and fresh paint in the Activity Center along with updated lighting, flooring, and scoreboards there.

The parish hired in 2017 the Steier Group to determine support by the parish for several facilities improvements. The study showed strong support. The parish hired the Steier Group to conduct a capital campaign to secure funds for a number of facilities improvements including a social hall with a kitchen, youth ministry space, a dedicated music room, an Outreach center, and relocated offices to make room for the social hall.