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Thank You Letter and Cost Report
Sponsor a Church Renovation Project
Dear Parishioners,
The long-anticipated repairs and restoration of our Historic Church have commenced just in time for the beginning of the year-long celebration of our 175th anniversary of St. Charles Borromeo Parish. Our contractor began mobilizing and starting the earliest phases of the work in June 2023:
See the photos- June 12-16: prep work and taking down the unused confessional that had become storage. Stations of the Cross were also taken down, and the wainscoting was prepared.
- June 19-23: the scaffolding is going up quickly. Daily Mass has been very smooth in the rectory basement. It feels more like family down there!
- June 26-30: all of the scaffolding went up, and the painters are up in the high ceiling for plaster repairs and painting. Everything went smoothly at Masses for the first weekend!
- July 3-7: Members of the Building Committee, Parish Council, and Corporators, along with the project manager from the archdiocese, examined the progress of our church renovations. They looked at the color mark-up, provided comments and suggestions, and did much more in order to make sure that the work on our church continues to go as planned!
- July 10-14: The crucifix in the sanctuary was taken down to be refinished and the crimson curtain and wood panels behind the crucifix were removed. This revealed some original gold leaf painting from the pre-1970s church. Take a look when you are at Mass! The upper sanctuary stairs have also been removed creating a single-level sanctuary area which will be much easier and safer to navigate.
- July 17-21: Last week the steps in the sacristy and flower rooms were removed to align the entrances with the newly lowered sanctuary floor. The doorways will be lowered back to their original locations to match. The lighting work will begin shortly, and once a large enough area has been completed, the final paint colors can be selected.
- July 14 - August 4: New lighting was installed, and the back section of the sanctuary floor was built up to match the height of the existing floor.
- August 7-11: Our Building Committee finalized the color selections for the columns, trim, and sanctuary wall this week. (Take a look at the sample column this weekend: gold capitals with sage green trim.) The altar platform has been installed and the sacristy doors are being framed. The sacristy lighting was installed.
- August 14-25: Our contractors continued their work on the painting and the lighting. Off-site progress was also being made on the refurbishing of our statues and Stations of the Cross. Take a look below for a sneak peek!
- August 25 - September 8: The painting has continued. Take a look up at the top of the pillars and arches, and you will see the new gold paint color. Up above the scaffolding, much of the green trim painting has also been completed. It is hard to see from our vantage point, but progress is steadily being made!
Renovation updates: September 14, 2023
- The higher walls and ceiling painting is completed, except for a few spots that need touching up.
- We reached an agreement on the flooring plank direction and replacing the weather rugs in the narthex with in-laid carpet tiles.
- We have outlined the tentative position of the new tabernacle and have determined the minimum size for the mounting table/platform.
- The electrician is a separate circuit for the pendant lights in the choir loft.
- We have a tentative design for the Sacred Heart shrine and are looking at votive light stands and kneelers.
- We anticipate the removal of the scaffolding will begin this week. It will take several days and may extend into next week.
- Installation of the flooring should begin in two weeks. Since separate crews install the sanctuary tile and the nave vinyl planks, work may occur concurrently.
- The electrician identified the location in the sacristy for the lighting controls.
- The sacristy doors have been re-installed.
- September 18-22: The scaffolding in the nave has come down! The vestibule area has been painted. Installation of the flooring should begin in the next week with wood-look vinyl planks in the nave and ceramic-type tile in the sanctuary. The carpet in the vestibule will be replaced with in-laid carpet tiles. The position of the new tabernacle has been outlined and a tentative design for the new Sacred Heart shrine has been created. Off-site, the Stations are being repainted and Mary is getting some new color. We are really beginning to see progress now!
Fr. Canisius, Building Committee members, Project Manager from the Archdiocese, contractors, and architects walking through before the scaffolding comes down — September 14, 2023
- September 23 — October 6: The old red carpet has been taken up and the new floors are being laid. The altar has been taken apart so it can be moved farther back in the sanctuary area. The sound system has been connected, but the full fine-tuning will happen after the completion of the flooring. The lectern (ambo), the cantor stand, and the wireless microphones work. Just the two main speakers in the church are on for now. The rest of the items will be connected after the completion of the flooring to match the new acoustics of the church. It sounds pretty good already!
- October 9-13: Our new wood-look flooring has been installed throughout the church. The newly refurbished Stations of the Cross have been rehung. The red carpet has been removed from the sanctuary area, the architectural trim has been installed and painted, and the marble-look tiles will begin to go down soon. The repainted statues and new tabernacle are here and will be installed once the sanctuary area renovations are completed!
- October 16-20: The marble-look ceramic tile was being installed in the sanctuary this past week. The repainted statues and new tabernacle will be installed once the sanctuary area renovations are complete. Our new worship space will be blessed by Archbishop Lori at the 11:00 AM Mass on November 19th. Please plan to join us!
- October 23-27: The carpets have been removed from the sacristy and the choir loft. New carpet tiles will be installed in the choir loft and wood-look vinyl in the sacristy. The pews are being cleaned/shined.
- October 30 – November 3: The sacristies have been painted and the wood flooring installed. The carpet tiles have been installed in the choir loft. The stand for the new tabernacle has been constructed. The reconciliation room is being modified to include a private confessional.
- November 6–10: The pews have been cleaned and a lacquer topcoat has been applied to give them a beautiful new shine. The finish trim has been installed in the sacristies and throughout the church. Work on the new confessional continues along with the tabernacle stand and Sacred Heart shrine.
- November 13–17: The major renovation projects have been completed! The statues have been returned to the side altars, the pews have been shined, and the entire space has been deep cleaned. We could not have reached this point without your patience and your generous financial support.
Watch the church renovations video update from Fr. Canisius on June 29, 2023!
Church Renovations Appeal Letter from Fr. Canisius
Our budget will enable us to achieve the following major work elements that have been part of a vision going back to 2012 and earlier:- Repair the damaged plasterwork and repaint the church.
- Replace the deteriorated carpeting with low-maintenance, long-life floor finishes using a combination of LVP and Porcelain Tile.
- Bring the Sanctuary into compliance with the National Council of Catholic Bishops design criteria by providing a safer and properly sized Sanctuary Platform and centrally located Tabernacle location.
- Provide modern energy-conserving LED lighting systems with proper lighting levels.
Church renovations — see the conceptual design
Church renovations — Statues, Stations, and Tabernacle
The work is anticipated to continue from June 12th until the end of August. It will involve overhead scaffolding for about 60 days to allow cost-effective repairs, refinishing the ceiling, and the new lighting system. The scaffolding will not go up for a few weeks because we await delivery of the lighting fixtures. The Church will continue to be used for Saturday evening and Sunday morning Mass but will be closed Monday through Friday, except for Holy Days.
We have presented our plans to Archbishop Lori, who supports this work. He did make a few suggestions, which we have incorporated. Repairs to the church began around 2012 with the roof leaks and the exterior walls. We will update the Parishioners weekly through our website and weekly bulletin as the work progresses.
We have other side projects that are not included in these major renovations. I will ask you to prayerfully consider sponsoring these for our 175th Anniversary celebration. These projects were chosen to complement the ongoing renovations. Some parishioners have already indicated that they would like to give an anniversary gift to St. Charles, and these additional projects would benefit from such generosity.
Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout this period.
Fr. Canisius
Bob Sears — Chair of the Building Committee - June 12-16: prep work and taking down the unused confessional that had become storage. Stations of the Cross were also taken down, and the wainscoting was prepared.
