The last of our scheduled town meetings took place this past Thursday. Thank you to all the parishioners who came out to learn about St. John’s repair and rebuilding project. Your input is greatly appreciated!
The 30 participants in this past Sunday’s town hall meeting came up with some great questions and comments for the capital committee. Here are some highlights from the discussion:
Comment: The parish should play up the value/leverage of what we’re doing with the project Home/Bethesda Project- Hidden Asset, Community Value.
Response: We agree that St. John’s will be the beneficiary of lots of positive attention thanks to this collaboration which we hope will generate funding and good publicity.
Comment: The printers Mass drew huge crowds at 2:15 AM on Sunday. This would be a good “alumni” source to tap into.
Question: When will this capital campaign start?
Answer: We have been in the planning phase for 2 years and we are now organizing the working campaign around the 1st of the year. We will begin the actual solicitation phase and will go through May – for the Parish phase. Beyond that, we will go out to seek foundation and grant support.
Question: Is there a timeline for the Towers and do we have to rebuild them? There was also a rumor that one option was to take them completely down.
Answer: While permanent removal was one of the options given to us by the architects, it is not really a viable option because of Historic Commission requirements. The Towers are more damaged than originally thought so they have required additional work. We hope it will be completed by the end of year.
Question: What is the actual cost of the Towers?
Answer: We have borrowed money on an emergency basis from the Archdiocese and the cost is approximately $1.3 million.
Comment: The amount of weekly contributions is down, yet the parish base is growing which shows folks are hurt by the current state of the economy.
Response: We are working to address this and need to assure that weekly contributions are not further diverted or redirected to the capital campaign.
Question: Are there plans to clean up the immediate area which might be seen as an incentive to the other local businesses?
Answer: Yes, between St. John’s and the new project (St. John’s Home) there will be much more focus on these areas, in fact the City is already doing a better job keeping the dumpsters cleared in a timely fashion.
It was great to see everyone at Sunday’s Town Hall Meeting. Around 30 people turned out to hear about the renovation and rebuilding projects at St. John’s. So glad you were able to join us. Thank you!
We’re looking forward to hearing from more parishioners and friends at tomorrow’s meeting — Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008, 5:45 p.m. in the parish center.
Hope you can make it!
The Capital Campaign is hosting several town meetings in the next month to introduce parishioners to St. John’s renovation and fundraising plans.
We anticipate that each meeting will be 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours in length and all will be held in the Parish Center. The dates and times are:
Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008, following the 12:30 p.m. Mass
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008, at 5:45 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, at 5:45 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008, following the 6:00 p.m. Mass
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008, Midday mini-meeting. Stop by anytime between noon and 2 p.m.
Come out and join us!
– the Capital Committee