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Completed Projects and Upcoming Schedule

Report to the Parish - February 2011  

Dear Parishioners,

As we move ahead into a new year, I wanted to share with you some updates, plans and reflections. Our parish continues to be alive with growth and change. Most visible are important physical improvements. The exterior of our church has received needed attention and is now repaired and protected. Equally important, the church is now able to welcome all parishioners—including those in wheelchairs—via improved entryways. Related, our new circle drive and walkways (now “frozen in place” for completion in spring)    [Read more of this letter]

 Updated Site Drawings – October 2010

Report to the Parish: August 2010

On behalf of our many volunteers, I am happy to provide you with this update on our campaign status. As you know, we have seen several important improvements take place in recent years through this parish-wide effort.

We should all be very proud of the vital work that has been done to our church building. This includes a new roof, exterior window repairs, tuckpointing to seal the building exterior, new tower roofs, a new lightning protection system, and rebuilt wing walls framing our church entrance. While not all these repairs are visible, they are crucial to maintaining our beautiful spiritual home. In addition, we have received many positive remarks for installation of the much-needed audio amplification system that allows those with hearing impairment to fully participate in liturgies.

Plus, we have completed a few important improvements to the Parish Center—including the painting and refreshing of our cafeteria, and renovation of the restrooms serving the cafeteria.

You will soon be seeing a next round of improvements. We are pleased to announce that the following projects are funded and scheduled for initiation.

This fall we will begin significant work on our grounds and access ways. This will include development of the circle drive that will help unify our campus. This new drive is essential to our master plan to make barrier-free access to all parish facilities a reality. As part of this same project, we will repair our sidewalks and improve the ramps and steps surrounding the church. This work will give an appealing new look to our campus, while providing safer and more accessible entry to our church.

This fall we will also conduct important work on our Parish Center. This includes upgrading our outdated electrical service, as well as a range of needed maintenance and improvements to the Lafayette Street wing—involving installing roof drains, skylights, and new utility meters. This work has three benefits today. First, it provides needed support to protect and ensure the usability of an aging facility. Second, it prepares us to turn over the eastern part of this wing to a new long-term tenant, Catherine’s Health Center. Third, it completes initial improvements that are important to the next stage of our plan—for example, we need to redo the electrical system in this building now so that we can install and operate an elevator in the Parish Center in 2011; and the Lafayette wing improvements are needed to allow us to relocate the Food and Clothing Pantry in the future.

The new projects just described involve about 20 weeks from start to finish. Our goal is to get them initiated in September, so that work is completed early in the new year. This timing will generally coincide with the relocation of Catherine’s Health Center. As you know, the Catherine’s Health Center renovation and move is being funded through a separate, and successful, campaign headed by that organization.

By early next year, we will have a new look and greater vibrancy through work on the grounds and walks surrounding our church as well as through the rebirth of our Lafayette Street wing.

On a lesser but timely note, you will see some overdue tree trimming take place around our parish grounds in the first half of September.

We have more to announce. Through your generosity, we have raised enough money to support two additional projects that will begin in 2011.

One involves creating a new entrance on the west side of the Parish Center. This will be accessible from the circle drive, and will lead to a new elevator. This project also involves new restrooms in needed areas of the building, as well as kitchen improvements. We anticipate this project happening in spring.

The second 2011 project involves improvements to our church interior. As you know, we have made exterior repairs that keep water and wind from damaging our interior, and we need to proceed with repairing and refreshing our walls. This maintenance and painting will take place in the fall of next year.

The projects I have just identified have been made possible by the efforts of everyone in this parish community. We know that all are supporting this campaign with their prayers and encouragement, and that over 550 individuals and families have already given or pledged their support. Through these contributions, together with moneys from our Foundation and Endowment and from special fundraisers such as Auction, we have campaign resources totaling nearly two million dollars. This is a remarkable achievement—especially in a time of such economic distress.

As additional moneys are raised, we will schedule other projects in our master plan. First among these items is the relocation of the Food and Clothing Pantry to the remaining space in the Lafayette Street wing. We would love to be in position to conduct this project in 2011, although we are not yet able to make this commitment financially.

The information I am reading to you now is available on our parish website, along with additional content about the capital campaign. We appreciate your patience in listening to this update, and your understanding regarding the reality that identifying the best way to proceed with the next projects in our master plan has taken time and effort, and has involved altering the sequence of activities that we had projected last year.

Most of all, we appreciate your continued support for this campaign, and your confidence and participation in helping connect legacy to future at St. Alphonsus Parish.

Fr. Denis Ryan, C.Ss.R.

We remember in a special way the many members of the St. Alphonsus Parish community who designated our capital campaign to receive memorial contributions in their name:

George Amar
Walter Barnowski
Gordon Bueche
Maureen Bueche
Paul Chatel
Jay Demeester,
George Dewey
Leona Douthett
Helen Evans
Terrance Farrey
Marguerite Firlik
Howard Grile
Austina Gruszka
Blaze Gruszka
Robert Hay
Alphonsus Hillary
James Holmes
David Holtzlander
Stanley Jarosz
Martha Jason
Fred Kamp
Deana Kamsickas
Jerome Kamsickas
Mary Kozminski
Patricia Merdzinski
Roger Miller
Patrick O’Brien
Lucy O’Rourke
Al Pack
Lucille Page
Roger Papke
Steve Pokora
Fr. Turk Rooney, C.Ss.R.
Henry Rosloniec
Stella Spetoskey
Robert Stratford
Bob Taylor
Suzanne Tobin
Irene Walenga
Mary Weed
Byron Zeilbeck
Jacqueline Zmudka