Building Project    

Building Project Update - December 5, 2010
     Many of you will recall that late in September Bishop Brandt called a press conference to announce the success of the Diocesan Capital Campaign. During that press conference he referred to the building project here at Christ the King parish. Much has occurred with the building project in the ensuing months. With that in mind it is appropriate that I give you an update on our progress.
     Following the press conference I met with our building committee and our architects and engineers. During the month of October we prepared another presentation for the Board of Consultors addressing any concerns they had expressed during our previous meetings. Later in October these updated plans were presented to our Building Committee. With their approval we scheduled a meeting with the Consultors on November 8th. We made our revised presentation. While we awaited the Bishop’s response I met with our Pastoral Council and our Finance Council to update them on the presentation. This past week we received the official letter of permission to proceed with construction drawings and plans. A copy of the Bishop’s letter is reproduced for you here.


 
     Once again we will need to address some concerns of the Consultors. Let me assure you that that is already being done. We will continue to consult the Engineering and Facilities Management Office as our plans evolve.
     In the near future I will be presenting our plans to the parish. If you would like to see the plans that the Diocese has approved look for the times of the presentation in upcoming bulletins.


Building Project Update - July 22, 2010
     Over the course of the summer the building Committee has selected Ross Shonder Sterzinger Cupcheck as our architect. Working with them and Streamline Engineering for site planning we prepared, in broad outline, a plan to be presented to the Diocesan Board of Consultors. The Consultors met on May 21, 2010. It was a lengthy meeting lasting more than an hour and a half. It was also a productive meeting giving us needed insight to continue the planning process.
     Initial response to our presentation from the Bishop and the Consultors was very positive. The official response took somewhat longer. On July 20, 2010 we received that response. It is reproduced for you here.





     In the meantime we have continued updating our plans responding to the concerns and contingencies presented to us by the Board. We have been moving forward with continued site planning. And have met with our architect and engineer several times. It is our intention to have a more detailed budget and design ready for a possible September meeting of the Board of Consultors.
     Further updates will occur as information becomes available.


Building Project Update - February 6, 2010
     When I last updated you on the Building Project I told you that we had met with the Diocesan College of Consultors and scheduled interviews with several architects to consider our options for plans for our worship site.

     We have continued to move forward since that time. During the last week of November and the first week of December each of the prospective architects was welcomed for an individual site visit in advance of the interviews scheduled for December 11th and 14th. The Building Committee was impressed with a number of the presentations and scheduled a second round of interviews.

     In the meantime we received a letter from Bishop Brandt thanking us for our presentation to the Consultors and reminding us of the proper procedure to follow as we continue through this process. His letter is reproduced for you here. 







     Since the reception of the Bishop’s letter I have met with the Building Committee several times, first to narrow the field of architects for the second round of interviews and a second time to prepare a list (based on the needs expressed by the parishioners in the development of the initial design) of mandatory elements to be included in the new design. Following those meetings I have met with Ed Turner, the Director of the Facilities Office for the Diocese, to obtain his ideas about the project. This was followed by a yet another meeting of the Building Committee to make any adjustments to our ideas based on Mr. Turner’s input. With those meetings completed we met with each of the architects to provide them with the information gathered and ask for concept designs to be presented on Feb. 11th and 12th.

     Further updates will occur as information becomes available.



Building Project Update - Nov. 29, 2009
    The Church Building and Renovation Project has languished for several years now. During that time we have petitioned the Diocese several times for permission to resume our project. Unfortunately there have been a number of things standing in the way. We have had to wait for the appointment of a new Bishop. We have had to wait for the Diocesan Strategic Planning Committee to be constituted and complete its study. We have had to wait for the restructuring of the Diocese. And finally we have had to wait for the permission of Bishop Brandt.

    With these other things completed, late this past summer, we (Fr. Joe, the Pastoral Council, the Finance Council, and the Building Committee) once again petitioned Bishop Brandt to allow us to resume our project. In early September Bishop Brandt responded asking that I meet with Diocesan representatives to discuss the project. That meeting took place on September 28^th. At that meeting we discussed the needs of the parish, the strengths and weaknesses of both the Second Street and Gilpin sites, the advantages of consolidating to a single site in light of the changing demographics of the Leechburg area, the declining number of both priests and parishioners, and the realistic possibilities for future development of the parish.

    As a result of that meeting the Diocesan representatives were to report their findings to Bishop Brandt and I was to call together the Building Committee to apprise them of the meeting results.

    We received the Bishop’s response on October 30^th. In essence it gave us permission to restructure the project in light of available funds. The letter is reproduced below for your perusal.

    Things have moved rapidly since that date. I have already met with the Pastoral Council. We have contacted the Diocesan Office for Engineering and Facilities and requested and received a list of architects from them. The Building Committee has met twice, selecting architects to be interviewed. On November 6^th I received an invitation to make a presentation to the Diocesan Consultors to give them an update on our project. In the two weeks that followed we prepared a presentation and on Nov. 20^th gave the Consultors not only our reasoning for moving forward but also the steps taken since receiving the Bishops letter of permission.

    Since the November 20^th Consultors meeting I have scheduled site visits with the prospective architects. The Building Committee will now conduct interviews. This should be completed by mid-December. Look for a further update at that time.

- Father Joe

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